Hello all!

I've read many postings about people finding much success with acrylic "craft" paints such as FolkArt or Apple Barrell. I myself, just found a huge selection of these paints at the local Hobby Lobby chain. The selection far out numbered that of the model paints and they are about 1/3 the price.

Now to my question....Other that "eyeballing" the colors (which is nearly impossible because the craft paint bottles on non-translucent plastic) how should one go about matching colors? Obviously these paints don't come in such names as "Jet Exhaust" or "German Grey". Does anyone know of a cross-reference for these paints that would, at a minimum, cross them to the U.S. "Federal Standard" or "RAL"?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

What can I say, I'm cheap!!

There is no cross reference that I'm aware of. What I do is just open the bottles up and check them out. I'm kind of lucky in that my wife has a ton of them left over from some craft projects she's had in the past. I just try to find the one that comes closest to what I want. Even in the stores I've never had anybody say anything about opening the bottle to look. The thing about colors, to me, is if you can get close that's all you need, what with weathering and all and the way the paint faded in the field it doesn't have to be an exact match. My 2 cents anyway.

Hi there

Bear in mind that paints quite often dry a different colour to what they look in the bottle.

I've never found a cross-reference for these sorts of paints either. What I do is buy something that looks at least hopeful and paint a little on scrap white plastic or card. Once it's dry, I compare the result with a FS colour fan. Sometimes you can actually get better matches this way than from some of the model paint manufacturers!

But like Halfyank says, exact matches are always necessary anyway.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks for the info gentlemen. I guess I sometimes get too wrapped up in the details. Being new to the hobby, I want to do my best, I guess I just need to make sure that, that doesn't get in the way of enjoying myself!

Respectfully,

baronjj

I agree with halfyank here as well. I never go into the exact colour of a subject... either armor or figure. I try to make the colour pleasing ... to me!
A new shop opened in the shopping centre next to me a few weeks ago, and I went in there yesterday to prowl round. they had a selection of the folkart paints (I picked up a few basic landscpaing colours) and what I call bases. Nice real timber ones or shaped MDF. I got a few cheap MDF bases as well for some future ideas!
Has anybody airbrushed the folkart paints? Is this possible? Can I thin with Isoproponyol as usual?

Yes, I have. I mixed up some Prussian blue and white, thinned it with rubbing alcohol, and it sprayed fine through my Aztec.

Howdy Guys,

Gee, many thx for asking the question baron. This is one of those subjects I just love!
I've used a decent amount of the 'craft paints', and have repeatedly endorsed them here on this site and others. So, I'll give my Farthing's worth on the subject.

To begin, unfortunately there is no 'cross-reference' chart available for these 'non-related' acrylic paints. But, there is such a plethora of colours available that all you need to do is start with a basic colour you are looking to replicate, say, german dunkelgelb, grab a bottle of Apple Barrel 'King's Gold', begin to lighten with other colours (won't go into the lengthy descriptive), and mix and match until it looks right! Believe me, it's not a long journey.
An additional couple of points.
One; Don't beat yourself up with some crazy exact-matching game when it comes to WW II colours. Or, military colours in general. Because, (and this comes from the people who were there), there were soooooo many methods, materials, application tools, weather conditions, time parameters, surface preparation limitations, etc, etc. That any attempt at pin-point accuracy is an exercise in self-flagulation! #:-)
Two; (somewhat based on point #One). The use of supposedly 'cheap' acrylic 'craft' paints.
I'll begin this with a Question. Have you,or anyone you know, ever seen a military vehicle (and I'm talking about everything from Aircraft Carriers to ammo trailers) painted with the same meticulous care that you would see on a Ferrari? O.K., I'm being a little extreme right? How about a new V.W. Beetle then?...............................didn't think so.

baron, embrace the savings and invest a little time in colour-matching, you'll appreciate it in the long run! :-)

Tread.

Oh, almost forgot. Merlin brought up an excellent poiint! The 'craft' paints tend to dry a wee bit lighter than they appear 'wet', that is except for the 'greens'...they're pretty accurate.
Another thing. They AB just dandy. In fact I 'walked' a nice ultra fine camo line freehand with my AB and had nary a problem.

I've love this website! These forums are awesome and all of you guys are great! I have gained so much knowledge just by asking questions. It thrills me that everyone here is so eager to lend a helping hand (so to speak) to aid us "rookies" in getting the most out of this excellent hobby.

Thanks again!

baronjj :-)

that is our reason for being here to mate. Knowledge is there to be shared and sooner or later you too will be answering questions that new comers are asking. Just like I try to do now...lol

PS> welcome to the Armorama Family. :-)

LOL....our honourable 'Roo' is dead right baron, sooner than you may think, you'll be answering some of these 'noob' questions so you can also 'give back' to the our wonderful modeling community! :-) :-)

Tread.

BTW, make sure you check out 'Roo's' work.....it's exquisite!
He's a truck fan, just like me!