Hi Ya'll:
I see so much about color of paints. Can you use This, That? What about this Shade? One thing hardly ever Mentioned is this very important aspect of display pieces.( They are that aren't they? ) Have any of you been to the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericsburg, Texas( The Nimitz?)
A very careful look at the models on display( The small ones) will bring this home better than any diatribe about whether you're doing it right or wrong! Hey, we have a very Important factor in play here! It's called Scale Effect! Scale effect has a very deep meaning. It is what is commonly known to confuse folks as, oops, wrong color!
"Aw, whaddya mean Wrong Color?" The best example for me is Armor models. ALL of them could do with a little more attention to this often missed detail, and I don't care how good the builder is. Even our August staff have been known to miss this in an article about painting a model!
Yes! I am mentioning the staff too. Why? Well, they are all great modelers. But, like everyone else they miss the boat on this one thing Scale Effect! This Effect is a sneaky one at best and it's hard to pick up on it. Why? Well, the model you have just finished will NEVER see the Light of day! It will always be displayed in Artificial Light!
Looks great doesn't it. Oh, No Model builder, of Whatever the choice of subject, is ever correct here, Unless you build in a well Lit ( Natural Light) shop or room you'll never get it right, cause "Scale Effect" will be there to "kick yer Butt". Now here's the secret. "Listen up! in the back there!".You Must LIGHTLY!! frost( That's what I call it) your model in a layer of clear gloss or flat coat into which you have slipped in One teensy drop of White paint.
White ? Are you serious? YUP ! Why white? Well, this is hard to explain so I will try. White will remove the brittleness of your colors, even under weathering and washes. Brittleness? " I Know, we are not talking Peanut Brittle here. Paint Pigment, No matter how fine will be brittle in artificial Light. Why? Well, the manufacturer adds many Brilliantine pigments to make the color "Pop" as they say today, in that Car Show-Room, Room in a new house or even the clothes on your back.
Brilliantine pigments used to be made from Silica. Why? It caught and reflected light back to the viewer. Nowadays they have to use other pigments because Silica dust in any form Is Indeed, HAZARDOUS to your Health. Natural Pigments such as White Coral and Marble are ground so fine they will actually fly away if you breathe on them. But, their reflectivity is way less than Silica!
There are even other rocks that provide this property for paints regardless of it's constitution_ Acrylic-Acrylic Lacquer or Enamel or just Plain Lacquer! or Enamel. remember the first Housepaints were devised from White-Wash which you could swim in and not get hurt! Then they added chemicals to increase coverage and longevity-Such as Lead! It also improved spreadability with a brush!
In Broad Daylight, on a sunny day grandpa's white Farmhouse literally glowed ! Because of the Ingredients of the paint! This is what we have to acknowledg as modelers and adjust our paints accordingly. Example: I was judging Armor at a show.I had to ask a builder if he'd over sprayed with Fast -Drying acrylic since I saw the model outside. Why? Well it was being hammered by other judges as being to dark. Well, outside before the show it looked fine to me. He had hit it with a fast coat of Clear flat!
The Example I like to use is this one.The Little 1/350 Kit of the D.E. U.S.S. Butler! Flat sea Blue, Modelmaster-Flat deck Blue, Modelmaster. Visability of details! NIL? She's so dark I have to show her with an LED flashlight. I was so excited about finally having a Real D.E. Model to build I also forgot Scale Effect. Don't you do it. Model on.