Paint Question.....Any Help Appreciated

[History Man]

I am working on a 1/48 Eduard Hellcat at the moment and have run into a possible problem.

For USN paint schemes with tri-color, I have been using the following my Model Master Acrylic: Insignia Blue, Intermediate Blue, and Light Grey.

I had seen some other modelers paint up the Hellcat using the Sea Blue, so while a family member was down at a model shop we do not visit much (due to distance and schedule)...he picked up a paint recommended by the manager. After looking at it and comparing to other paints, I am not so sure it was a wise recommendation by the manager (also, since this is the 2nd type of blue he has recommended for tri-color schemes). He recommended Model Master Blue Angel Blue and that is what he picked up, now if I had known about the trip I personally would have had both that and Dark Sea Blue picked up to see the better one that we could use for tri-color schemes.

The only place near me that carries Model Master Acrylics is Hobby People....and they only carry a small selection in spray can form, which makes it tougher.

I want to ask and see what color(s) (in Model Master Acrylic please) you would recommend for the top coat blue for tri-color schemes and late-war USN aircraft. Also, was the Blue Angel's Blue a wise recommendation or is it a bad one as a fear?

Any help is appreciated.

Philip

 

[destrozas]

I usually simple search on the internet to buy for two reasons and lack of time for not having a decent modeling shop near my house, the nearest is 90 km.
then follow to avoid problems online or by books looking colors including pages that let you below are some references, another issue is to get the manufacturer's catalog of the paintings (if your model master) and equivalent or equivalence with other brands, is expensive but almost 90% of paint manufacturers have comparative color tables or calculator to switch from one brand to another.

look at those two references:
to 1943
Grumman F6F Hellcat Early War Camouflage Color Profile and Paint Guide
after 1943
Grumman F6F Hellcat Late War Camouflage Color Profile and Paint Guide

 

[fubar57]

Hey Philip. The two links Sergio gave you are for Cybermodeler and this link will take you to Color Guides..Scale Modeler's Aircraft Color Profile Directory This link takes you to Urban's Color Reference Charts...
Urban's Color Reference Charts - Part I This show the difference between the Non Specular Blue used on the top color and Insignia blue...

This link is for Paint4models..Ultimate Model Paint Conversion Chart - Paint4models.com
...for some reason, when I launch it, it will only load halfway and I have to refresh it to load it completely.
The Blue Angels Blue changed colors at least five times from '75-'86. This probably won't show up well...

Geo

 

[Wurger]

First off all , the name of a paint can't be the thing that decides about its correctitude in tinge. Many manufacturers offer the same paint with the different name and vice-versa, The same name but different shade. Therefore it is better to use the FS code system for colours. Having that you may select the paint you need. Usually, many guys ( also here ) complain that an "authentic" paint is too dark or of a different hue. It is because a manufactured offers the colour that is authentic for a real plane but not for a model. A such paint applied on 1 square meter of a real aircraft looks good but applied on 1 square centimeter of a model looks too dark. In other words , wrong. And this is a reason a basic colour has to be lighter by mixing with some of a white paint in order to get the correct , scale effect. Knowing the name of paint only it isn't easy to select the proper tonality of a paint. But The FS system is more useful. It is because instead of mixing of the main colour with the white it is easier to select a lighter variant of the basic coat.
You said... Model Master Acrylic: Insignia Blue, I assume you used the ModelMaster acrylic paint 4742 what is the FS 35044. The Sea Blue colour was given to ANA 606 Semi-Gloss Sea Blue - FS25042, ANA607 Non-specular Sea Blue - FS 35042 and ANA 623 Glossy Sea Blue - FS 15042. As you might notice the FS number is still the same *5042. Only the first digit is different because it says what kind of a colour it is, Gloss-1, semi-gloss-2 and matt -3. The meaning of the rest digits of the code you can find there ...
Color Reference Charts - Federal Standard

Here is a comparison of both colours. The Insignia Blue ( according to the FS sample ) is more bluish than the Sea Blue FS 35042 that seems to be a little bit of greyish tonality. The Model Master FS *5042 should be 1717 for enamel colour or 4686 for acrylic paint.

The Model Master Blue Angel Blue in the spray can is of FS 15050, also the enamel 1772 and acrylic 4687 are of the same FS number. Here the comparison... the paint seems to be lighter than the FS *5044 and doesn't much the FS *5042 in any way.

To sum up.... neither the FS *5044 nor FS *5050 should be used as the equivalent of the FS *5042. However if the FS *5044 would be the origin basic paint , the FS *5050 could be used to get the scale effect. Or for making of the weathering for surfaces painted with the FS *5044.

Having the info you should find the proper equivalent for the Sea Blue colour of different manufacturers.

Oh.. by the way, the Light Grey for undersides seems to be incorrect too. As memo serves it should be the White one.

 

[History Man]

Man, just saw this thread shoot back up today...sorry for the late response. I was not concerned with the paint due to the name, I never choose a paint based on the name, I was concerned with the tone and color it had in the bottle. After giving it a test on a scrap plane, my fears were correct...it was too blue and would have ruined the kit. I went back to the model shop and picked up a couple bottles of their Dark Sea Blue which is the one I used on the Hellcat I posted, turned out nicely and I will probably use it for tri-color and late-war USN schemes from now on. There were some other colors that MM carries in Enamel but do not carry in Acrylic, which gives on limited choices. I have seen the non-specular and standard sea blues work well, but I will have to look at other companies for those in Acrylic.

Philip

 

[Wurger]