Hello everyone!
I am new to Eduard models, I always made Tamiya kits and used Tamiya acrylics. I heard that Eduard have some very nice models too. But how do I know what paints to use? Example:https://www.eduard.com/store/aircraft-and-helicopters/1-48/bf-109f-4-1-48-1-1.html?cur=2
The first variant. Thanks!
Well the 109 has standard colors depending on the theater your kit is in,just about every paint company has a line of German RLM colors that you can match.
Ah! I see. Thanksnfor the help, I found a helpful chart for that
RLM colors come in all brands of paint.
Well, what I normally do is, such as this kit, download the instructions for it then see what paint it recommends, which in this case seems to be mr. Color. Although I, like you, use tamiya paint so i will see what paints it has listed in the instructions, in this case I’m doing mr. tire black, then go to my browers and search for tamiya tire black. This will show a picture of what tamiya color I need and give me its bane, in this case XF-85 rubber black. (Although the name might be different the colors are the same.)
Hope this helps you on your build and good luck, I never had an eduards model before but I hear they are pretty high quality.
Eduard kits reference Gunze aqueous H series and Gunze lacquer C series.
Except Tamiya. At least in their bottle paints they are all mixes…
Right… I meant to say other brands besides Tamiya. Thanks for pointing that out
I wouldn’t follow kit instructions for color. When a kit is put together for sale, the “ research” is pretty much limited to what the company is willing to pay for.
Pretty often that’s just a lift from another kit or a Fast comparison.
use your own judgement.
StRt with the actual colors and then find the paint.
BINGO!!! Never limit your color selection to the kit’s instructions often times being incorrect. Let’s say as an example listing 02 for the pit of a late war Gustav but should be 66. Do some research and you will get more reliable info.
Eduard is pretty good about their color call outs. Especially on their hi end boxing’s like the Profi packs or Master Class.
Revell/Monogram’s Pro Modeller line had outstanding color call outs on their instruction sheets. Often backed with snippets of information and photos from aviation author Bert Kinsey of Detail & Scale.
You guys are absolutely right. Although, I will go and check what the colors in the instructions are, I normally don’t use them. I normally go and look at pictures of the real thing and if the kit is not real, I will go look at multiple pictures of what other modelers did and get dome ideas from them.
Also do not go by museum restored ones either. Sometimes they get it right, and other times they use what the budget will allow.
Yup, although I’m pretty sure that funding was not an issue for the USAFM B-26 Marauder. They painted the interior of theirs in interior green. Martin did not use that color on Marauder interiors. Black, Neutral Gray, Bare Metal, and a translucent blue yes, but no Interior Green.
You do know finding WW2 era aircraft will be mostly black and white, right? Very few are restored color photos.
Color wasn’t invented until 1943.
But yes like has been said, most of us modeled in the era where the choices originally were not meant to sell paint but to make the model look “real”.
The internet maks it so easy now. And added to the comment about not taking restored aircraft colors for granted: they help. Models WIP by others I put in the same category.
I guess I want to say that a lot of beginning modelers ask about what paint to use for a subject.
I respect the question of course and answer- “the accurate color”.
There was a source well respected for years. IPMS Stockholm. May well still be.
It converted one paint manufacurers color to another, most valuably referenced a generally correct scale of what the original colors were.
But it rode over the bigger picture for a way to pick paint.
That is now best done by referencing the original color specification, Federal Standard and then RLM and so forth.
Why?
Because both paint makers and the internet increasing can steer a researcher towards a correct chip or match.
The gold standard for me has been Snyder and Short. Those guys found verified swatches of Naval paints, and then formulated paints that match them.
But it’s important to look long and hard. Other companies like Tamiya make up a range of paints and assign names that are gneric if beyond IJN.
Just my two bits, but a modeler is well served to lay in rubber, flat black, insignia red, yellow and blue; true white, silver and aluminum and then look for specific colors as each model is on the bench.
If you have a stash of colors already in your drawer if goodies, there is no reason to look for other brands. I had a shelf full of Tamiya paints from a previous build, so I did the google thing and found which of my Tamiya paints matched up with the call outs from the Eduard manual. I used those and purchased other colors. I wanted to experiment with Vallejo Model Air so the missing colors came from that line. If you are looking for historical accuracy, you will be better off doing research about the plane, timeline, theater of operations and squadron. Trust, but verify the info in the manual. If you’re going to mix brands and paint types, play with spare parts or plastic spoons or something to verify how the paints play together. See the help I was given in the painting subsection.
ROFL!!!
I believe color film and stills were around way prior to 1943. Here’s an example of 8mm shot in color and titled “The Oberg Color Film Footage of Pearl Harbor Dec. 7,1941”.