what do you use? does it depend on color used in how you mix filter paint for airbrush? will be doing a tiger camo scheme with the red and green camo colors, any aid appreciated.

reb

Hello Friend,
Your filter should be applied BEFORE any other washes or weathering steps. This will work to alter or unify your base camo colors. DO NOT flood the surface with your filter or you will end up with a thin wash sitting in all of your receses. Not the end of the world but it is not what you are looking for. Filter should be even and smooth.

This is the ratio (roughly) that I use for :

WASHES: 25% Color to 75% Thinner. This would mean that your total of colors mixed to obtain the filter you would like, total 25% of the mixture. In contrast to a Filter, washes wok much better when applied to a glossy -or- at least satin surface. The wash will flow much easier and it is possible to clean of the excess wash from areas where you do not want it to be. If you apply a wash over a matt surface, you will end up with tide marks that are dificult to remove and will cause a "filter" effect when and were you do not want one.

FILTERS: 10% Color to 90% Thinner. Thinner. This also would mean that your total of colors mixed to obtain the filter you would like, total 25% of the mixture. This process should work well over a gloss, satin, or matt surface.

As for the color of your filter, I would aim at a mixture of dark redish brown -or- a fairly dark mud tan. You can use raw umber, burnt umber, ochre & a few primary colors to get this type of color. This may darken things a bit but dusting or rainmarks later in your weathering will lighten things up a bit.

I hoe this is helpfull. If I am not clear or can be of any other help.

Are filters and washes helpful for single color camos?

If you mean either a monotone vehicle or a base color with 1 color camo pattern, I would say yes.
I would say a wash should be used no matter what....even if it is pink! A wash will simply help all of your details pop out from your model.
As for a filter, even with a monotone paint scheme, a filter will help add chromatic richness to your model. If you have used color modulation -or- pre & post shading, a filter will help to blend the transition of tones as well.
Think of a filter using this analogy:
Place a transparent yellow piece of cellophane over a light. The light will apear yellow correct? Now place a blue piece over the yellow.......the light will appear green correct? This is very similar to what we are doing with a filter. We are very subtly changing the appearance of our base color by adding very thin layers of a complimentary color that we will see our base color through. This subtlety is why a filter is so highly deluted.
This analogy can also help us to choose what colors we can use for a filter based on how we want to alter our base color(s).
Sorry for the analogy.....I hope this is helpfull. Please let me know if this did not answer your question.

Ok. I have three shades of OD I'll be using. Thanks for clearing that up.

Sorry guys. I made a typing error. Earlier when I stated the ratios that I use for filters, I made the mistake saying the total amount of color(s) used should be 25%........MISTAKE.
What I had intended to say was the color(s) should total 10%.......matching the 10%paint -to- 90% thinner ratio.

thanks for the info! cleared up a lot for me lil pea brain, lol. once i get started on it i will review this and if i have any questions, as i know i will, will contact you for help.

thanks again

reb