I was wondering about the base color, that is, what looks good on a very large scale (Polar Lights 1/350) Enterprise? I shot some MM camoflage gray on some old off-white vac formed sails from a sailing ship kit to see what it looked like, and it seemed a little too dark to be used as the base, but might be ok for some of the aztec stuff. The factory MM light gray seems like it would be a little too “naval” looking. I’m guessing I should be going for some kind of off white. What’s popular/commonly used for this? Any suggestions?
This is really a personal decision and may be influenced by which movie version you are building. Personally, I just use Flat White, with a couple drops of Blue added for one color and for the contrast you can use the Camoflage Grey or I used the same white/blue mixture with some silver added, you don’t need a lot…
One thing I know, looking at the various suggestions for use of “off-white” colors for the various Enterprise styles, is that NOTHING IS LIGHT ENOUGH once it’s sprayed. Being a rattle-can man, it makes for a frustration because white is too white, and anything else is just too dark.
That idea of a slight blend of a couple drops of a hue into white would definitely be the way. I sure need to consider buying that airbrush, eh?
This is a very old subject on many other modeling boards. I am going thru this now with the 22" E. If you are using an airbrush… find the lightest grey that you can and go with it. I have done the mixing of colors in the past and like it has been said before… the color is what you feel is right.
I’m afraid that is the correct answer.
Thanks for the responses. I found something by accident that I think will work. I was clearing out a rattle can on the back of a plastic “For Sale” sign and noticed when the paint dried it had a very slight contrast with the sign. I would guess about 95% shell white/5% camoflage gray if I had to mix it myself. It’s a rattle can from a local hardware store. It says “manufactured for Do It Best corp”.