paint chart

[Guest]

Is there a paint colour chart I can acquire for the Vallejo air range?


I'm sure the screen colour will be different to the real life colour.


being new I think I'm gonna give this first shout as lots of you seem to get along well with it and I'm not gonna have to thin it for my airbrush.

[BrianT]

If you google Vallejo charts youll find a link to their website and there are charts on there for all of their range

[John]

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/downloads

[Guest]

Will this chart only be as good as my printer tho? Can I not buy one made by them and have it sent in the post? Or am I being too critical?. Do kits have recommended colour codes?

[eddiesolo]

Will this chart only be as good as my printer tho? Can I not buy one made by them and have it sent in the post?

Yes, to the first part and I very much doubt it for the second. Some kits come with colour codes for the paint required but they are normally a generic colour. I.E Panzer grey-it may not give the specific makers code so you have to go with your gut and what paint you have, Vallejo etc.

[Guest]

Hate to burst your bubble, but the only one worth having is the hand painted one, between the computer source and your printer, I'm afraid reality will drift into the ether!! Plus, your printer uses different inks to print, and that alone will make your chart inaccurate. I know I'm a proper pedant when it comes to this, but I compared the hand painted one I have with many other sources, and most of the time, the colours bore little resemlance to the paint. And, IMHO, not even good enough to be a "rough guide". Your best bet is to make your own, as and when you buy paint, using watercolour paper and a 1/4" (6mm) flat brush.

[Guest]

I've just compared the PDF at 100% with my painted chart, they are different, and my Mac has been calibrated for print design...

[John]

Can I not buy one made by them and have it sent in the post?

I will add some to my next order and I will have them in next week, they will be free but I will still have to charge for postage

[Guest]

I will add some to my next order and I will have them in next week, they will be free but I will still have to charge for postage

Do Ravell do one as well John?

[John]

Do Ravell do one as well John?

No, I asked the Revell rep if he could send me some when I first took on their paints but he said it's not something they print, apparently due to colour variants from print to paint

[Guest]

Ooohh I'll request one with my first order!

[Guest]

No, I asked the Revell rep if he could send me some when I first took on their paints but he said it's not something they print, apparently due to colour variants from print to paint

I rest my case

[Guest]

I rest my case

I absolutely agree John. Paint colour will vary for so many reasons; thinning ratios, background, number of coats are just three.


Paint charts are merely a guide. If the colour one wants has to conform to an accepted standard, such as RLM or RAL, then look online at the brand(s) who are judged the most accurate.


But even getting the paint to be 100% accurate is not the full story. Different scales, weathering etc will all alter the colour. Nothing's better than the Mark One Eyeball

[Guest]

I absolutely agree John. Paint colour will vary for so many reasons; thinning ratios, background, number of coats are just three.
Paint charts are merely a guide. If the colour one wants has to conform to an accepted standard, such as RLM or RAL, then look online at the brand(s) who are judged the most accurate.


But even getting the paint to be 100% accurate is not the full story. Different scales, weathering etc will all alter the colour. Nothing's better than the Mark One Eyeball

Absolutely, for decorating, thay can be a guide, if a poor one, for artists and, to be fair, modellers, they are next to useless. When I switched from using paint, to making digital art, I bought a Pantone Swatch, it cost me £80, years ago, but I figured that with a 4 colour printer, it would be very useful. All it taught me was how limited it was in use, and that colours I was able to mix with my brand of paint always seemed to sit inbetween two pantone colours! They live in two completely different worlds. Paint, as we know it, is made up from pigments, binders and mediums. Different manufacturers have different suppliers of pigments. When Rowney ceased to make Cryla Flow, I lost colours that were part of my personal palette, try as I might, I couldn't replicate them with Winsor & Newton or Liquitex etc. The only way to learn about paint is to use it, and that goes for what colour it is too! These paint charts have been made on a computer, using, most likely the pantone sytem, or something similar. They will have been generated at 300-600 pixels per inch, then compressed to go onto websites, thus rendering them all but useless. Some folks will dowload a PDF, which may be high resolution (min 300 PPI), but to print them, you'll need a high quality printer with at least 4 separate colour inks, and using top quality, high resolution photo paper. Given all this, I'd still maintain that they can only be a rough guide. Add to this the poor quality control I'm experiencing with modern paints, you can see why I give praise to Jim (grumpa) and others for using simple paints, and learning about them through use, not theory. I supect that this is also true of folks using enamels, they tend to be dyed in the wool users, and consequently, through a lot of use, know their medium!


Sorry, rant over.

[John]

I've got the Model Air Charts in stock, they are free but postage isn't so you should really add them to your next order