Excellent video, Alex. It'll come handy for those wanting closer matches than what is offered straight from the bottle by the different brands. At this point in life with my shaky hands, I resort to "the closer, the better, but some breathing space is always nice". That is, what colour is best for what I want to do and how contrasting or harmonious it will be, taking into account the other colours on the camo scheme, the markings and the environment the original was operating in. So, exact matches are not paramount on my builds, but the colour should do the part. On a lighter note, people should be thankful they're not trying to figure out the colours of one-off British gliders from the 1930s using BS381 and paint manufacturer's charts. To paraphrase the original "Death at a funeral": Everything's so bleeding Pastel. Just... don't. Trust me on that one, folks. Alas, got me eye on that Ivory colour by ICM. Looks lovely for freshly applied doped-canvas. Cheers.

Beautiful video, Alex. Well thought out on inexpensive options. My question is, does the Rust-Rover come already pitted and corroded? Too many an oldtimer telling newbies to get this and that or your model building process will be worth sh... nothing because you're not branding the way they like. The end result is a depressed newcomer to the hobby looking at his - who would have guessed it - not-so-perfect build who's 70 or 90 quid down on their bank account for no good reason other than complying with someone else's fancies and dubious judgement abilities. On modeling knives, scalpels and other sundry cutty-cutty, stabby-stabby sharp things, never work on air or leave a space between you and the bench.. Both arms on the desk, modeling bench or worktable, paunch or chest against the surface edge. Too many a puncture wound on legs, feet - or worse - amidst the modeling community after a blade rolled off of the edge and took a dive straight into a limb. Another relatively inexpensive item is getting a cutting mat. But, if you can't afford one, get an off-cut of wood at your local sawmill or ask a carpenter for it if a house or business is being renovated in you neighbourhood. They usually go for free, since it's less rubbish to take out to the dump. Yellow and white pine off-cuts are incredibly useful cutting and sanding blocks, and can double as paint stands. The flat and heavy surface provides a stable ground, and if you're a fidgety, spasmy guy like me, there's less of a chance of rolling a corner of the mat while moving your arms without noticing and botching up a project. Ask me how I know, please. I also happen to use those off-cuts to base my scale models. Better to have them secured to a base than rattling around a box or display case and getting damaged. Scale models are like pets. They cost you money, time and patience. Look after them. Final word of advice. Take your time. Try and test different approaches to the different tools you'll be using. It's alright to have a different method for building each kit. Plastic is almost never the same, from brand to brand. You'll get flustered with a build at times. Take five minutes off, have a cup of your favourite non-booze brew and the answer will come to you in time. Don't speedrun a build. You're not death-marching a project at work or dealing with delivering a paper on time at the Uni. You're building a plastic model kit. Take your time, enjoy it and learn from it. Alas, fleamarket tips from a fleamarket modeller. Merry Christmas, mate. Cheers.

The seatbelts are actually right for scale. People forget that the thickness of the harness material back then were far more thicker than today’s safety straps. So photo etched belts will look ridiculous in this scale.

I have the Fengda 183 and have had no issues at all.

I’ve been waiting for a 1/350 Pittsburgh and Rodney for ages.

One would think ICM can mix themselves by this recipe and sell the results as Standard RLM colors.

The aurcraft you notice the biggest difference in colour are early WW2 USAAF in all over Olive Drab where the likes of a B-17 can be seen in umpteen different shades of it as its so big .... The Fighters though can also exhibit it

Very useful.

Best summary I’ve seen Alex. Perhaps a follow up vid for each of the topics with examples?

Airfix are no better! It's reprehensible that they're still selling kits that I thought were crap when I was a lad back in the 1970s. In airfix's defence the have now marketed all their old stuff in the heritage line but you'd have to be in the know what that means. As for Revell, I've never trusted them and view the majority of their products with suspicion, that said, their newer stuff from Revell Germany is pretty good but still a bit hit and miss.

Quite reasonable, the issue is with people who lost the ability to use reasoning.

Concerning primer. I tried to remove some old Humbrol from a car kit. Impossible. I had heard that enamel does not need a primer. Confirmed.

Subbed for the app. Make it happen!

I bought Ammo Mig Atom Carmine, because it's the only carmine I could find. But when mixing it the paint turns a lot more blue than I expect from carmine. Very strange. Lovely color otherwise. I'm going too try some other shades. They have many interesting ones.

Don't forget that lighting in photos also has an effect on the colour perception too. I remember taking no end of photos of a tank at Duxford and some inside shots of a wessex at Newark Air museum trying to get the correct shades of black and green. Just 2 simple colours but you wouldn't belive the contrast that you could have. Just go with what looks right for you is the simple answer...

The good thing about being an artist is being able to combine your own colors. At 70 years old, I still use quality Mercedes-Benz car polishes!

I may be in a minority here, in that I use enamels and brush them on. For me, it is the contrast between colours that needs to be got right. My paints of choice, as a warship modeller, have been Colourcoats, first produced by White Ensign, then by Sovereign - a two-person husband-wife operation based on meticulous research that has overturned a lot of accepted wisdom on RN colours. They have recently stopped production, but there is hope that they have found someone who will take over the production of this excellent range. They also did aircraft and military colours, which also seemed very soundly researched. But as I said at the start, it is how the colours look together, given the scale factor, and whether they convey the effect one can see from photos, is what matters to me. As many have noted, on active service actual tones and hues varied greatly, and none more so on warships, which would get hasty paint jobs while in harbour, based on what was to hand - any paint being better than none!

The only historically accurate colours are made by Foundry miniatures . They are all triads

Talking what is "THE" correct color brings to mind a model railway thing in the 1980s when I was going to custom paint some N scale N&W, Norfolk & Western passenger cars for a friend; he had slides taken at Roanoake, Virginia, of N&W passenger cars in the railway yard in I think the 1950s and 60s. 🚂🚃🚃 I very much remember one slide taken from an elevated vantage point where there were 5 discernibly different Tuscan Red hues among the various cars packed in to the yard. 🚢 And then I remember going down to the Navy base a few times in 1970s and 80s to watch Dad's ship return from deployment. Sometimes the ship would catch the light just right and you could see both different hues and different sheens of 'standardized' Haze Grey in multiple patches along the hull side.

When I've been painting camo I try and find the colours which give the best contrast between them. I found the Airfix chosen Humbrol colours are not distinct enough. I found the Vallejo BS colour versions were much more distinct when used together. One thing that I find does affect the colour is the final varnish you use. I tend do prefer a mix of Vallejo Matt with a few drops of Gloss. I don't want a perfect matt finish as at scale it just looks wrong. When scaled down a matt surface would appear more like a satin as the surface imperfections get smaller.

you know what people don't find interesting? KZbin or personal economics.

Great build and a lovely tribute! :) Ref PE pinging off.. Maybe a strip of masking tape behind it so that when a part is cut off it can't go anywhere because it's stuck to the tape? Yes please re a video on custom / DIY decals :)

When you see a modern professional colourists paint booth and you hear about some aspects of colour science you then wonder about the validity of any hue of paint. Now dial in the quality of pigments available during a world war, the accuracy of scales, the need for rapid production, the colour of undercoats, the effects of UV light, dirt and surface contaminates and we have not yet started the discussion of scale effect. Now tell me again which colour is correct. I think a representative colour is probably good enough.

Even guys painting planes for the living says paint color is relative. Best way for me is to mix color using good photo reference since most people as viewers also compare to photos/movies etc.

Thanks for a very informative video. I tend to largely use Tamiya (enamels, acrylics and sprays) and SMS. I am generally very happy with what I have chosen. SMS has good British interior green (in my view) and generally good allied camouflage colours, including RAAF. The Tamiya spray can TS and AS ranges seem very good (at least they look good), and their enamels are fantastic for hand painting troops.

As a professional model builder Mann's is spot on. The three things I would add from my 40 years of model building exact replicas is: 1. after scraping and sanding, always wipe the part down with a fast drying cleaner (I prefer fast drying lacquer thinner). 2. Take your time, never be in a rush no matter the deadline, RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. 3. If making an exact replica, do not forget dents & scratches down to the smallest detail. I'm currently building a one of a kind Ryan PT22 1/32 scale. The model cost was $210.00, but will look identical to one of the last operational PT22's that is still flying.

I have had the Monogram kit for many years, but delayed building it while waiting for a better one. This ICM is just what I deeded to sell my Monogram kit. ICM is tops when it comes to quality of the kit as well as instructions, boxing, etc. What A pleasure building a kit with little or no issues to fix in order to fit part.

A video on how to use the wet palette you showed off TEMU would be great.

Surely it is the custom, in this fine hobby of ours, that when two modellers meet they will start arguing about colour. Congratulations to all the manufacturers for giving us all these various shades so that we can keep the tradition going. Club nights would be so much duller without it!

I'm trying to mix colors on my own. My biggest problem is finding the actual reference colors in the first place. Soft copies or printouts of color standards available online are not real options for obvious reasons. Any suggestion how I can get hold of color standard palettes for reference? Or any suggestion on how to mix relatively accurate colors without comparing them to a physical sample?

First time watching one of your videos, so excuse me if my question has been answered elsewhere. Where are you getting the 'standard colour' from?

I tend to get sets and paint up using the recommended colours from that, partially because my colour vision isn't that reliable. One of the reasons I don't use Gunze is simply that their RLM 74 and 75 look too close to me. Chasing colour matches doesn't make sense to me because I don't trust period colour photos, museum birds are often repainted and I can't always tell the difference! I definitely don't trust Mig Ammo though - even I can tell that their colours don't look right! FWIW - I've got the AK real colours books so I'm taking their word for it that they've done the research

I found none of the hobby manufacturers make very accurate ones so I make my own paints, like none of them use perylene dyes which is what all modern planes use and very few use cadmium(as far as we know) which while cant be airbrushed, it is the most accurate for these colors since thats what they used and still use.

Sorry but that is well 😞 rushed build , small parts not repainted ! 🤨

This is why hate tamiya painting instructions, they always tell you to use so many differnt colors (only suggesting theirs) and mix them for no reasons. This is why instructions from indipendent model kit makers are way better for painting instructions, the search for the right color based on actall apearence and not name.

I was originally thinking that Humbrol would match RAF, RN colors better. But based on your video i guess that is wrong. As far as my favorite paint line....Model Master. Next is Humbrol, Tamiya & Mr Color. I have a large collection of Model Master paints. About 20 years ago a local hobby shop was going out business and i was able to buy his whole stock during his going out of business sale. This included the Military, Train and Car line of colors. I've sold many of duplicate or line of colors i dont use. But my stock is still huge. My 2 bits. Thank for the comparison video. Interesting to say the least. Merry Christmas to all.

Excellent presentation!

Very helpful, many thanks.

It is interesting to hear criticism from a modeler, when you can't even glue two plastic pieces together from the inner side and prevent additional work of sanding excessively after. I'm not a pro, but I am allergic to people like you making some sort of observations, pretending being the best or something like that. There are things that bother me too, so I just simply don't buy it. Why making almost 30 minutes long video of a model you don't even like... P.s.: I really thought you're going to ejaculate on that instructions paper for crying out loud. It's an unf*/kable paper

Their are 2 big issues affecting the exact match of colours. The pigments for the paints for the real thing can have shortages and so changes the values. Evan presumably safe colours like US olive drab are not safe as the government changed the mix values for the army about 3 times during WW2 and there were inter services variations as well. The second big issue is that hobby paints also change over time and sometimes dramatically. I've been collecting Vallejo paints since 2001 and buying the same colour every 3 years or so. I now have highlight, mid tone, and shadow across most of the range. Finally, colour photos can be misleading. If the image is from the film, there are 2 basic types. There is fast film for low light, but generally puts a slight red shift to the colours. The other type is daylight film that puts a slight blue shift to the colours. How much depends on the exposure and skill of the photographer. Also different brands of film are slightly different. Digital cameras give you many more issues on colour shifts. Also, time of day impacts as well. Unfortunately, matching an exact colour is a very slippery slope. Fortunately, colour shifts can slightly change mood that can be used to our advantage. As the modeller, I can only say go with what feels right to you after viewing many sources.