I recently got the Lifecolor German Tanks sets (1 & 2), but I'm a bit puzzled over what they call Dunkelgelb. The paint in the pot looks nothing like the swatch on the box but looks like a slightly darker version of the Sandgrau. In addition, the pot marked Grunbraun/Gelbbraun looks, if anything, more like the Dunkelgelb swatch than its corresponding swatch. I'm wondering if there's been some sort of mixup in the factory... Interestingly though, the Dunkelgelb version I have is a pretty close match to the rather sandcolored tanks in Duxford Tank Museum, so I'm not entirely sure if it's the paint that's wrong or the color swatches on the box.

If anyone else has this set I'd love to hear what your Dunkelgelb looks like.

Hi Nik,

I have both sets and yes the swatch does not really match the contents of the bottles.

RAL 7028 Dunklegelb and RAL 7027 Sand Grau were both next to each other in the RAL register (as greys) so are very similar colours. The dunklegelb is certainly "different" to other maunfacturers in that it has more of a light grey hint than the "green" shade that comes through with Tamiya, Xtracrylix and Testors versions. After a wash of brown over it, it matches quite well to colour pics of surviving kit. The Olive green and brown match up with other manufacturers colours.

The desert shades RAL 8000 Gelbraun from set 1 and the RAL 7008 Graugrun (from set 2) seem to match up well with Bovingtons restored Tiger 1 and the colour swatches I have in Tomas Chorys book on German camouflage.

Colour is very subjective though, what with "scale effect", weathering and the ongoing "what colour was dark yellow" debate.

Perhaps Jentz and Dyle will release their Camouflage Colours book soon and put us all out of our misery!

Good luck with the Lifecolor - I love using it and have switched all my colours to that brand, it brushes and sprays well once you get used to it. When using the Lifecolor paint I would recommend a good primer and then at least 2 coats of the main colour - it goes on quite thin, but dries quickly and is very resistent to washes of oils over the top.

Hope that helps and If you need any more help just ask.

Thanks Tommy. Very helpful, and saves me trip to the distributor to exchange my "faulty" pot.

How do you spray small detail with it? I had some issues doing a camo pattern and ended up doing brushpainted with Vallejo instead. For the airbrushing it just seemed to constantly dry on the needle or not come out at all. When I brushpainted it, it didn't seem to want to cover anything, so any other tips you have on using it would be more than welcome.

Hi Nik,

To spray I fill the spray cup of the airbrush 2/3 full with tap water and then use a large paintbrush to transfer 3 or 4 brushfuls from the Lifecolor pot into the water. I would guess it ends up around a 60% to a 40% mix of water and paint.

The thinner the mix the less clogging you will experience. If it does start to build up at the needle I just keep a clean paintbrush handy and clear the needle end when needed.

When brush painting, I dip the brush in water before dipping it in the paint and do this after each brush stroke.

The Lifecolor paint (sprayed or brushed) goes on really thin and you will always need a coat or 2 to get a good even coverage.

Hope that helps.

Tommy,

Thanks again. Much appreciated. I guess I just have to keep experimenting with the paints.

I've decanted the pots into 30ml dropper bottles, easier to measure and pour. Think I was doing a Vallejo recommended mix of 1:3 thinner to paint, whereas you and the other place I was reading about these says to use a 3:2 (60-40) thinner to paint. Might stick with the Vallejo for the brushpainting for now, as I have a huge range of those. Funnily, the best equivalent for Olivgrün seems to be Vallejo Model Color Russian Green.

Thanks again for the help, much appreciated.