Painting Hints

[Sailorman]

You need to think carefully about whether to paint white over green or green over white. 

You might find it is difficult to paint white over green as the green will continue to show through.  This might mean having to apply more coats of white and this would affect the surface detail. 

I always tend to prefer painting the light colour first followed by the other colours according to how dark they are.

Hopefully some of the others on this site have tried the Zebra scheme and can offer more practical advice. 

[Ratch]

Hi Guys, Have gone totally out of my comfort zone here and have opted to build a ' Helicopter' - Sea King in 'Zebra' (?) camouflage sheme. These frequently flew over us  from Yeovilton and was a regular sight in the skies above Taunton where I live.  I always fancied  its paintwork and trying to emulate it in Kit form. Now I can and the box and contents eagerly await my attention on my work bench - so, for the time being its good by fixed wing and hello rotary - I assume the white was over sprayed on the green,  whats the best way of achiving this pattern ? if confronted with a similar scenario I have opted for the Blu Tac approach to mask off the background colour. Does anyone have any suggestions apart from Blu Tac to achieve desired results. Thanks

[Ratch]

 When painting it is usually better to lay down the lighter colours first as the denser, darker shades will cover the light ones more easily. There are exceptions to this, for example when applying a winter camo (say to a tank), the whitewash didn't cover the dark paint below allowing some see-through, so this effect is desirable.

[typhoonfanatic]

I understand the principals of tanks being whitewashed over the green and even aircraft were whitewashed in the field over thier standard camouflage, am i to understand that in the modern era this 'Zebra' pattern would have been painted in a logical fashion i.e green over white and not rollered on by some poor ground crew on a chilly windy day at Yeovilton 

[Kenneth ONeill]

I'm not familiar with this "Zebra scheme", and suspect that the "correct" answer will depend on whether it's a "special scheme" like an anniversary or Tiger Meet scheme, or simply a Winter camo.

[peebeep]

I understand the principals of tanks being whitewashed over the green and even aircraft were whitewashed in the field over thier standard camouflage, am i to understand that in the modern era this 'Zebra' pattern would have been painted in a logical fashion i.e green over white and not rollered on by some poor ground crew on a chilly windy day at Yeovilton 

I haven't got any references to confirm this but I would guess any arctic camo would have been temporary for exercises or deployment, so it wouold be most likely white over the original factory green. Temporary camo is usually done in ARTF (Alkali Removable Temporary Finish) and I doubt it would be a rush job done outdoors, all the images I've seen show very tidy looking aircraft.

[typhoonfanatic]

You meet some amazing people in my line of work - Just been speaking to a customer who was based at Yeovilton in the 80's and worked on the Sea King - Apparently the camouflage pattern which I call 'Zebra' was only ever an experimental scheme devised for Artic use and potential use in the Falklands, it was never officially adopted, the white was painted over the green by way of brushes - interestingly he also served in the First Gulf war and for identification purposes the Sea Kings that were (and I use his words) painted the Pinky Biege colour (which was highly effective but odd looking) had thier tail units painted Green and White which again was applied by the good old brush system.

It never ceases to amaze me the information you can glean just by talking and showing an interest in a customer, He is one of several amazing people I have met who have had first hand knowledge on the subjects that fascinate me.

[Kenneth ONeill]

@typhoonfanatic - Thanks; that pretty much confirms my thoughts about "temporary scheme". I've heard similar tales to the others that you cite from other sources, although the white of the Arctic scheme wasn't "that permanent".

I used to have some hard copy photos of Harriers and Jaguars taken in March when they were just off deployment, and they were brushmarky with the green showing through, so if anyone is contemplating doing one of those I'd suggest applying the green over grey, then brushing the white over the green and not worrying about brush marks and/or the green showing through a bit.

[Braille Dave]

If you google it, you'll find pics of RAF Tornado's having their Desert Pink camo being applied with soft brooms and household rollers (Yes, allegedly, the Eng. W.O., cleared the local DIY hanger) for the first gulf war.

 

As said upthread, ARTF was designed precisely for application in the field... So it could be applied by any method, and in theory removed easily...In practice, it either fell off, or stuck so fast the airframe needed a repaint.

[James DS]

Hi,

I received a model army 110 landrover as a gift for Christmas and whilst dabling in plastic modelling 30 years ago i'm really looking forward to making this with hopefully many more to follow.

I've watched some videos and read some articles regarding painting and whilst there is a plethera of information on line it's also a bit of a minefield. I want to get some paint for the model but which is best in your expert opinions?

Also in the colour section on marking and painting instructions, the Mr Hobby paint has a H followed by a number in a white box and a number in a balck box i.e. Dark Yellow is H79 and 39, what does this mean.

Appreciate your valued input to a mere 'rather excited' novice.

Many thanks,

James

[Captain Triggers]

it's not mr hobby

it's humbrol

[Ratch]

Hi,

I received a model army 110 landrover as a gift for Christmas and whilst dabling in plastic modelling 30 years ago i'm really looking forward to making this with hopefully many more to follow.

I've watched some videos and read some articles regarding painting and whilst there is a plethera of information on line it's also a bit of a minefield. I want to get some paint for the model but which is best in your expert opinions?

Also in the colour section on marking and painting instructions, the Mr Hobby paint has a H followed by a number in a white box and a number in a balck box i.e. Dark Yellow is H79 and 39, what does this mean.

Appreciate your valued input to a mere 'rather excited' novice.

Many thanks,

James

I guess if Mr Hobby is readily available you're Stateside.

Airfix instructions call for Humbrol paints. I use some Humbrol but choose Vallejo as a preference. Whatever you choose, make it a brand readily available to you. Don't be afraid to experiment. Some modellers prefer one brand, others don't get on with it and recommend another - it's about finding out what works for you.

[peebeep]

Also in the colour section on marking and painting instructions, the Mr Hobby paint has a H followed by a number in a white box and a number in a balck box i.e. Dark Yellow is H79 and 39, what does this mean.

 

It's cross referencing Mr Hobby (aqueous acrylic) and Mr Color (lacquer acrylic) paints. H79 is Mr Hobby Sandy Yellow (dark yellow) and H39 is Mr Color Dark Yellow (sandy yellow). Descriptions and references are straight off the Mr Hobby paint chart.  

[Ratch]

I guess this isn't an Airfix kit then  😇