Camouflage Colour Ideas

[malvern_man]

Hi all,

Not really sure what section this question should go in but as it's about paint I'll ask it in here...

Soon I'll be painting my Warhammer Leman Russ tank and I'll be doing it in a 2 colour camouflage pattern ( top coat and a contrasting colour for the camo pattern )

I'll be airbrushing ( very first time ) the main colour either Vallejo Olive Drab 887 or Bronze Green 897.

My question is what colour do you think I should use for the contrasting camo pattern, I'll be brush painting this. I have the Vallejo WW2 Allied Forces set 70.109 so I'd like to use one of the colours from this set if possible. NOTE...this paint scheme I want to do doesn't need to be historically accurate as it's a Warhammer kit.

Sorry for such a long post just to ask a simple question.

Regards, Chris.

[Guest]

I think what I’d do would be to put the paints next to each other (in the bottles, or just a little bit painted on a bit of spare plastic) and see which combination looks good to me.

[JR]

I'd agree with Jakko Chris, which ever looks best, esp as it's not historically accurate.

[malvern_man]

Thanks Jakko, that's a great idea, I think I tend to over think things sometimes.

[Dave Ward]

Hi all,

Not really sure what section this question should go in but as it's about paint I'll ask it in here...

Soon I'll be painting my Warhammer Leman Russ tank and I'll be doing it in a 2 colour camouflage pattern ( top coat and a contrasting colour for the camo pattern )

I'll be airbrushing ( very first time ) the main colour either Vallejo Olive Drab 887 or Bronze Green 897.

My question is what colour do you think I should use for the contrasting camo pattern, I'll be brush painting this. I have the Vallejo WW2 Allied Forces set 70.109 so I'd like to use one of the colours from this set if possible. NOTE...this paint scheme I want to do doesn't need to be historically accurate as it's a Warhammer kit.

Sorry for such a long post just to ask a simple question.

Regards, Chris.

Chris,
I have a guinea-pig model - an old Matchbox He 111 - that I use for paint try outs, both airbrush & hairy stick.- trying masking - and any new technique, especially colour of primer & paint covering! It's useful for colour contrast, just applying it to card isn't enough, it should go onto a 3D surface. The Heinkel is a real harlequin - I just keep on overpainting, although it will be eventually be replaced by one of my purchase mistakes that are in the stash!
Dave

[Guest]

I think I tend to over think things sometimes.

One of the great things about paint is that you can just experiment with it. All you usually need is a drop, so you’re not wasting a lot but will probably learn something. In your case, for example, you could paint a centimetre or so of sprue with the base colour, then add one of the colours you’re considering for camouflage next to it, and you can also put a second colour on the other side to compare.

But the same thing applies with mixing paint: a lot of people go and ask on forums what the outcome will be if they mix two (or more) colours, or if they can mix different brands of paint. My answer to that is: just try it! The only thing is that you really shouldn’t mix paints that need different things to rinse them out of your brushes — don’t mix acrylics (that you can rinse out with water) with enamels (that need white spirit), for example. Other than that, all you have to lose is a bit of paint.

To give a real-world example, I learned the other week that it’s not a good idea to mix Tamiya acrylics with MIG airbrush-ready paint, because it turns out the two separate. I was trying to make a dark grey and mixed MIG black into Tamiya medium grey. However, the grey kept coming to the top of the black. Mix them with the brush and it was dark grey, leave it for ten or twenty seconds and it went back to medium grey with black underneath …

[adt70hk]

Great advice from Jakko!

As he says....do NOT mix different paint types.....

I have a couple of yoghurt pots I use for testing.

Word of warning, Model Colour can be airbrushed but it takes a lot more thinning than Model Air...... Start at 1:1 paint to thinner and go from there!

ATB.

Andrew

[malvern_man]

Thank you all for the invaluable information.

My son is going to teach me how to use an airbrush, he's a qualified makeup and prosthetics artist so an airbrush is his tool of choice.

He always uses Vallejo Model Colour in his airbrushes when he's painted his own models.

He was doing some priming today ( Vallejo Black Primer ) so he primed me the spare upper body and turret that comes with the Leman Russ tank. I'll use these for trying out camo patterns/colours.

Regards, Chris.

[barrybarfly]

You could always get some camo stencils and use the airbrush to do both layers. Saves free handing as well.

I'm aware you've finished this now including tarps, but thought the idea was worth sharing anyway!