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'A gaping silken dragon,/Puffed by the wind, suffices us for God./We, not the City, are the Empire's soul:/A rotten tree lives only in its rind.'

Saturday 17 November 2012

Die banana is gelb...

... but not dunkelgelb, whatever that might be! After my last post, DaveM directed me to a very good page on the 'Flames of War' site that discusses painting dunkelgelb in a small scale context. I won't repeat the very sound advice there, but just note that I heartily agree with the general thrust of the article which really comes down to 'you pays your money, you takes your choice', or 'horses for courses', or something like that. I particularly like the approach that a key determinant in what colour one uses depends on what sort of final look one wants. So, for example, a dirty, battle weary vehicle will use a different shade of 'dunkelgelb' from a more recent addition to the armoury.

Also on the dunkelgelb front, I wanted to take DaveM's advice regarding Humbrol enamels. He recommended numbers 83 ochre; 84, mid stone; 94, brown yellow; and 93, desert yellow. So off I went to the toyshop in town and straight to their Humbrol stand ... er ... they had practically every other paint number in the range except these four!!! What?! So, I picked up a couple of Revell enamels and left in disgust (after paying for them, of course). So, that leaves my current choice for dunkelgelb as:


The acrylic at top left is Hannants Xtracrylix 1805 'Dunkelgelb'. Now, I only bought this recently and have yet to use it, but if the lid is anything to go by, it will do nicely for a dirty and weary vehicle - going by Flames of War advice. The others are Humbrol 225, middle stone; H93, desert yellow (I used this for the recently built Armourfast Crusaders); H63, sand; H250, desert sand; then three Revell enamels, of which, 88, ochre, is my current dunkelgelb favourite. Interestingly, the Humbrol paint chart I have has both Revell 16 and Revell 88 as being equivalents for Humbrol 94, brown yellow, yet the Revell colours are clearly quite different. Where does all that get us ? Er, not sure. But, I think I might try the Revell 16 on the Somua in German service. All I have to do is kit bash the thing first. 

6 comments:

  1. Hi Stephen, I always used to use Humbrol 94 with a touch of 83 Ochre.

    This has changed of late to a Vallejo Panzer aces British Tankcrew highlight which I dry brush on after a base coat of primer black. Although is very bright and looks quite light it tends to change nicely with a sepia wash.

    The scale factor I think means any combination could be used as long as it is applied lightly with good shading.

    One finds people that could rivet count for hours and days on the colour itself, but I sit comfortably with the fact that weathering, time field application (It was applied with the paint paste and fuel I think with a mop or brush) and scale really negates any true answer except for the one you find yourself happy with.

    Model on!

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    1. Hello Paul. Thanks for this. I'm going to have to get some H94, and maybe investigate the Vallejo (though I'm a terrible conservative in these matters). I absolutely agree with your anti-rivet counter views. As you say, application methods, degree of dilution (and with what), general wear and tear, mud, dust, you name it, all undermines the rivet counter. Model on indeed!

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  2. Glad you liked the FoW page. Just for the record, Hu93 isn't one of my recommendations, though certainly ok for incorporation in desert schemes. Pity you couldn't get the others though!

    Cheers, Dave

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    1. Cheers, Dave, Yes, I was 'fair scunnered'. I couldn't believe that the few colours I was after weren't there. I kept checking, and I think the shop assistant was beginning to worry that I was somehow filling my pockets with hundreds of tins of humbrol.

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  3. I use Tamiya 'dunkelgelb' straight from the pot, sometimes mixing in some white for ageing/weathering.

    regards

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    1. I'll have to add that to my 'must get' paint list. Mind you, I find the Tamiyas a bit smelly. But if it is in a good cause...

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