Hey, guys, posted this in the “Painting and Airbrushing” thread but didn’t get any hits, so maybe better luck here…
ANYHOO:
My next build is going to be Hasegawa’s 1/48 Starfighter. It’s the NATO kit, which includes markings and instructions for the German and Italian versions, plus a third which I’m not knowledgeable enough to identify.
I’m gonna try Eagle Strike aftermarket decals and attempt to build a different Luftwaffe version with splinter camo.
The profile that came with the decal set indicates that the variant I want to build is painted with RAL7012 (Basaltgrau), RAL6014 (Gelboliv), and RAL7001 (Silbergrau). I found pics of this build on another site, and the modeler apparently used Xtracolor paints. I don’t think you can get Xtracolor in the States.
So where do I find RAL paints? I typically use MM enamels. I know that MM has a line of WWII RLM colors, but only a couple of the RAL colors, mainly for armor (as far as I can tell). I know there are conversion charts on the Web, but they typically don’t have MM equivalents, although they do (sometimes) have FS equivalents.
Do any North American companies sell RAL colors? Note that although I’m used to painting with MM enamel, I’m willing to try other brands or even acrylics if I have to. I’d like to avoid mixing my own colors, as I’d probably screw it up and waste a lot of time, money, and paint.
I tried searching the forums for posts about this, but didn’t find anything that exactly matched.
Well, after digging around the Web, looks like Vallejo has the RAL colors I’m looking for (bronze green, basalt gray, and silver gray).
Problem is, they appear to be brush paints for figures. Sigh. Why doesn’t anyone make RAL paint colors for a/c? So frustrating. I can’t build the West German F-104 without the right colors.
Do you have the color chart displaying the chip standards? If so, why not mix your own colors to match the standards. This shouldnt be too hard. You will need to mix enough to finish your plane so it’s better to mix extra.
Yes, Vallejo’s ModelColor range are quite thick in the bottle, but they can be thinned and airbrushed. For best results, thin with their proprietary thinner or distilled water. Don’t try to thin with alcohol or alcohol based thinners like Tamiya’s Acrylic thinner - it will turn Vallejo paints into something resembling cottage cheese.
The up-side is that the ModelColor paints brush far better than any other acrulic paint on the market.
Mixing your own is always an option, but as I mentioned in my original post, I’m a novice (especially with an airbrush–just paint coming out of the airbrush = a good day for me), and I think attempting to mix my own colors would result in a lot of wasted paint and money and heaps of frustration. With small bottles going for almost four bucks a pop these days, it could become an expensive experiment. :-\
Thanks! Yeah, I saw that conversion chart last night while Web surfing. Maybe Humbrol is the way to go, although I see the chart doesn’t include Silbergrau (Silver Grey, RAL 7001), which is the color used for the underside of the F-104. Hrm.
This is so hard. Maybe I should just stick with one of the OOB profiles and sell the decals. Anyone want a set of Eagle Strike decals for the Hasegawa F-104G, lemmeno.
Sigh. Why doesn’t anyone make RAL paint colors for a/c? So frustrating. I can’t build the West German F-104 without the right colors.