TAMIYA color question

Modeling Subjects Ships
1

ok i have the 1/350 uss missouri. i have a question on painting the ship. it says the color for the deck is XF-50: 5 + XF-2: 2. what exactly does this mean? i know the XF-50 is field blue and XF-2 is flat white but does this mean i have to mix colors?

sorry if this is a dumb question as i think it was metioned before but this is my first time constructing a large scale ship.[;)]

thanks!

2

Yes, that is Tamiya’s recipe format for mixing their paint. Mix the paint in a 5:2 ratio of blue to white (5 drops:2 drops, 5 ml : 2 ml, or 5 gallons: 2 gallons, etc.).

Tamiya gives painting information using their own paint colors because they want to sell their own products. They ignore other manufacturer’s products. (Imagine that!).

World War II Deck Blue is available out-of-the-bottle from other manufacturers: PollyScale and ModelMaster AcrylII Marine line are acrylics (like Tamiya). White Ensign’s Colorurcoat is enamel.

3

It means that you should mix 5 parts of the blue with 2 equal parts of white. Good luck!

4

I always “translate” their colors into what I use, MM/Testors enamels. Here are someof the paint charts and web sites I use to help me:

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_testors_map.htm

http://www.aumodelisme.ch/P/table/GNZEACRYL.HTM

http://www.phoenix-model.com/paint_charts.htm

http://www.ttfxmedia.com/vallejo/cgi-bin/_modelis_info.asp?p1=ing&p2=modelair&p3=1#modelairinfo

http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=72

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/colorcharts.asp

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_mrcolor_map.htm

there are many other “color charts” that can be used to cross-reference those found in any instruction/kit (almost!).

Hope this helps

5

yeah i think i just roll with the Model Master US deck blue.

thanks guys good look

6

I’m building the same thing soon and would like to stick to acrylics if possible.

So which paint is the US deck blue either in MM or Polly Scale?

7

This is where I depart from the purists and the color police - I don’t mix colors unless it is for a very small area or part, that I can paint all at once or at the same time, because it seems I can never, ever match it again if a do-over is needed. It’s either out of a bottle or it doesn’t get done.

Close enough is close enough 99 percent of the time - do you really want to agonize over which minutely-different shade of gray is the correct one for your ship? I don’t, at least not anymore. I research the color chips, go to my World’s Largest Collection of Gray, Green and Brown Paints, and pick the one that’s as close to it as I can get.

8

LOL, I bet a bottle of Tamiya German Grey, my collection is at least equal to yours! [8-]

9

I used to have that problem too. Now, when I mix a color, I mix plently of it and save the rest in a spare bottle until the build is complete done.

-Jesse