Revell kits/paints. i don't know why I bother.

[Guest]

I bought another Revell kit, a Me262 night fighter. I thought it would be fairly straight forward seeins as it's a night fighter.

What confuses me with Revell is the colours they use, a lot of them don't cross over using the online pdf. Do they not cross over because Revell don't have the correct colours? Some are close but some don't have an equivilent.

Am I possibly over thinking this and worrying too much? The colours that concern me are - matt 77, 9, 45, 6, 36, 49, 5, 39, 15, 46 and metallic 99. Some of the colours needs to be mixed, is that because Revell don't have a paint or because Revell want it to be more authentic? I don't get Revell.

[AlanG]

I always do a search for other paints rather then even try to convert revells. Most paint schemes (especially german) are well publicised on the net

[Guest]

dont worry so much about colours mate, as said in other threads i use revell almost exclusively and dont worry too much about colours being right, i do mix to some of thier suggestions but always mix a fair amount and then store them in little pots with a dab of paint on the lids so i know what they are, been doing this for a while and now hardly ever have to mix because i allready have them,if its a mix i do not recognise i will get a tiny amount on a bit of plasticard and most of the time there is a colour that is near enough. i do have an a4 sheet of plasticard that has a sample of all the revell paints on it so i can compare colours. but in the real world there are lots of factors to think about, paint manufacturers had slightly different shades as supplies were running low,some applied over different bases.also you can factor in scale effect on colour, then weathering can alter the colour slightly, varnishes tend to make some colours go a little darker and in the end i think to myself what is the point ,just get it close, does not have to be exact as there is probably no-one alive that can state that your model is exactly the same colour as the original was. get two brand new planes on a runway together both painted with the same batch of paint and the chances are that they will not look exactly the same because of the natural light and shadows. my ethos is... its a hobby and enjoy doing it,as long as you are happy, no-one here will tell you its a tad light or dark.

[Alan 45]

I have found by accident that most of the colours revell tell you to mix can be found in Tamiya colours , ie the Memphis belle kit I got told me to mix a dark green with yellow for the main colour so I did but thought that looks very much like nato olive and it was a perfect match.

good job I had only painter the forward turret of the belle.

I suppose if you can get a colour that is near enough the same it wont matter but each to there own I suppose I m just lazy lol

[Guest]

If I knew the legit colours as opposed to revells version I would happily buy them. I mostly use tamiya anyway. I'm not sure if rlm is the best way to go.

[AlanG]

I mostly use Tamiya and Vallejo. They have just about every colour i need in their portfolio

[BarryW]

I use Vallejo and, for metallics, Gunze buffables.

Yes, it is better to go back to source materials to decide on the colours with FS numbers to match the colouirs (or RLM in the case of German aircraft) rather than rely on colour call-outs exclusively or even the conversion charts.

These websites will help:

Urban's Color Reference Charts - Part I

The colour by country is a great source.

This helps too:

Scale Modeler's Paint and Color Reference Directory

Vallejo provide the FS numbers on the paint charts on the website. You can cross reference to these sources to get the colours.

Acrylicos Vallejo | Colores acrylicos

I hope that helps.

[Ian M]

Nowt wrong with following the RLM numbers on a German aircraft. Its kind of the definitive paint guide number. Revell only have a limited range of paint colours, hence all the mixing. Vallejo do just about all the RLM colours.

A quick Google will give you the colours you need rather than Revells telling you which numbers to mix up.

Some very good tips and links from Barry above as well!

Ian M

[spanner570]

I tend to be in the Andrew (phalinmegob) camp....I'm all for getting the colours right, but too often folks beat themselves up looking for the perfect colour. I suppose this is fine 'factory fresh' but the vagaries of the weather and ops. conditions will all play a part in discolouring the paintwork.....

A classic example - although not aircraft - is American Infantry uniforms, particularily in the Pacific WW2 theatre. If you take a look at colour pictures it looks like no two items of uniform are the same shade, yet modellers still get in a fizz looking for that one 'correct' colour to paint the figures with.

As Andrew points out modelling should be fun, so don't worry too much about paint colours being spot on.....just my own angle chaps!

Cheers,

Ron