Well, the brush would be my route. Don't know of any others. As far as base color, it depends on what kind of paint. I use Humbrol when I'm not using oils. For the Luftwaffe splinter pattern I use 187 or 72, which are tans, as a base. The Wehrmacht had different shades of base for their splinter camo which were seasonal. I usually use 94 for the tan base and then add a little 80 Grass green to lime it out for the green shaded base. Then for the winter shade, I'd use the tans I mentioned for the Luftwaffe, 187 and 72.