Differences with Tamyia Paints, Acryls, etc.. (by William R. 11/09/2008)

[Shane]

William:

I think you will get a kick out of this.  After looking for a match (or close resemblance) to the Japanese brown used on the Betty bombers, I found an old bottle of "Pactra" paint called "M3 Terra Cotta".  I used that with Aeromaster Mitsubishi Green for an early war Betty.  I wanted a red brown to go with a lighter shade of green and the browns I had were to brown to do.  I hope to bring it to the February meeting after I decal it.  Personally, I think is looks great, but after doing 4 dark green Bettys, any variation would be a needed change.  Thanks for the color chips, they helped make the decision.

Shane

[Bill L.]

I read your posts about Tamiya, Acryl, etc. I don't ever use a gloss
coat with those paints. With Tamiya especially I just mix in about
20-30% X-22 Clear Gloss with the flat Tamiya paint and get a nice
semi-gloss finish that I can then decal right over. I always let it
dry a day or two before decaling and I use Micro Sol almost always.
I've had bad results with Mirco Set and Japanese decals. I have some
Mr Mark Setter and Mr. Mark Softer (similar to Micro Sol) as well.
Mark Setter seems to be a weaker solution of Mark Softer with some
white glue in it. It drys quite clear but will help a not so sticky
decal adhere to a model. Mark Softer is strong and I don't like to use
it with a lot of decals because it can 'burn' them. Hasegawa decals
respond very well to a hot water dip and Micro Sol.

Shooting a Semi-Gloss coat over a botched flat coat will usually bring
it back from disaster.

The Tamiya XF-70 is supposed to be a match for Mitsubishi IJN Dark
Green. For your Bettys I'd say that's the way to go. The old XF-11 is
more a Nakajima type color.

For the Cloud Camouflage I think I used some Polly Scale Dirt (505208)
along with Polly Scale IJN Green (505278) for my Claude. Check Nick
Millman's Blog from June when he did a series on the Earth Brown
Colors. Pictures of my Claude are there as well as Nick's analysis:

http://www.straggle research. com/

I also like Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth or a mix of that with XF-64 Panzer
Red Brown. Polly Scale, French Earth Brown #505240, (FS 30140) is also
an excellent choice. If you want to go with a dark chocolate color
then you might want to try XF-10 or XF-64. Other Polly Scale choices
are: 505392, US TAC Tan, (FS 30219); 505366, US Earth Red, (FS 30117);
505112, Panzer Red Brown; Tamiya XF-68 NATO Brown is also be an
alternative. I'm not a fan of the darker chocolate browns but there is
evidence of them in use.