Its finally time to put some color on the Firefly but I am not sure what color is proper. The OD I have looks too dark compared to my references. What is the proper color for Market Garden era Fireflies? Which Model Master color best matches it?
S Zaloga 's OD research article in the March '02 issue of Military Modelling says this of the three available Model Master paints:
Acrylic Model Master 4728: Very light, too grey-green – too light
Acrylic Model Master 613: Lighter, greyer than wartime color – too grey
Enamel Model Master 1711:Close to the 1968 FS-595A: OK for wartime OD, a bit vivid
Enamel: Model Master 2050(613): Lighter, greyer than wartime color – too grey
Now understand that this was comparing to US Olive drab. Fireflies would have been painted SCC15, which when fresh, looked like US Olive Drab. After some aging, the SCC15 supposedly faded a little greener than its original hue. Sherman ICs and VCs during market garden would have been in the field probably a year or so.
Plus, with dusting, weathering and scale effects, no one is going to skewer you if you aren’t 100% correct (not to say that you can just slap anything on, mind you – just stay in the ballpark)
You said your shade seems too dark when compared to your references – what might those be? Color perception is extremely conditional on the context. And color photos of WW2 vintage have a huge range of color fidelity. And artist’s renditions – well, they’re just interpretations.
Have a look here and test your ability to percieve color:
http://www.echalk.co.uk/amusements/OpticalIllusions/colourPerception/colourPerception.html