Hello Friends
i am building a new lancaster and am totally confused with the colors. i use vallejo model air series and obviously what vallejo suggests itself is too dark! i ve been mixing paints for last 2 weeks and still not sure about any of them! can anyone please help?
Just to be sure, the suggested Vallejo colours would be:
029 Dark Earth
012 Dark Green
Some people like them, but others also feel they are too dark. So it’s difficult to say if this is just a personal preference, or if they are being influenced by others’ artwork (models, canvas paintings, digital artwork) or are they comparing to the actual wartime chip?
Both these colours should be dark when factory fresh, but if you consider sun bleaching, weathering, and even scale effect, then of course you can lighten them up. There is also a modelling trend when approaching a camouflage scheme, to lighten just one of the colours but keep the other dark to give more ‘pop’ to the appearance.
You can try lightening with some yellow and just a little white paint. Or try a light tan. Keep in mind too, if and when you apply a flat coat, this will lighten the appearance of colours.
regards,
Jack
Dark Earth and Dark Green.
I use Humbrol 29 and 30.
thanks Jack, i know it will be lighten up when i apply the flat coat. but still i think its too dark 
the thing is if i just mix them with white or yellow they kinda lose the sharpness and the contrast between the colors goes off. I have tried dozens of mixtures and still dunno which way to go. but i will just pick a couple of them and move on.
GMorrison got it right. You can cross reference it closest to Vallejo colors. Closest for Humbrol 29 would be Vallejo English Uniform. Humbrol 30 would be either Vallejo Yellow Olive or Dark Green (Model Air 12) Yellow Olive would be on the faded side though.
Go to paint4models.com to make your choices. It’s a simple cross reference tool easy enough to use.
One of the better quality original photos from WW2, posted more to illustrate the fact that the camouflage colours are dark. Can you provide a link as to what you are aiming for?
regards,
Jack