SEA/Vietnam camouflage paint. Which brand?

[quang]

Hi all,

 

I'm currently building the Kitty Hawk 1/48 RF-101C and approaching the painting stage. You can read about it HERE

 

My jntention is to represent an a/c operating in Vietnam circa 1967 just after the introduction of the so-called SEA camouflage.

In many photographs of the period, the colours appeared worn and faded, especially the tan. Is there any brand of hobby paint which incidentally replicates the faded version of the Vietnam colours?

 

Also, which brand are you using for SEA camouflage and why?

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Cheers,

Quang

[LSP_K2]

For SEA schemes, I've always used Model Master paints, as the colors just look right to me.

[b757captain]

Hi Quang,

 

I've been following your build on BM while I build mine (and you're doing a much better job than me!):

 

 

I just finished decaling with weathering to go before a final flat coat so the colors to me don't look quite right yet, but to my eye every paint mfg mixes all three colors to the FS base standard or close and none seem to match the fade common to the SEA birds. From all the photos and videos I've seen (plus some less accurate eyeball memories up close) the colors seem to fade at different rates - i.e., the lighter colors fade faster than the darker colors. I normally use MM but this one was painted with Mr. Color (303, 309, 310) and I mixed white in with all three colors at different ratios until it looked right. I lightened the 34079 the least, 34102 more and 30219 the most.

 

Maybe the color experts can chime in here, but it seems to me that colors closer to the infrared end of the light spectrum fade faster - colors with red, yellow, etc. in the mix. I'm probably wrong on that but I'm sticking to my theory for now 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

 

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by b757captain

[quang]

@b757captain Hi Mark,

As you rightfully point out, the different colours do not degrade at the same rate, the tan more quickly than the greens.

Furthermore the hues are also shifting. The tan loses a bit of red and veers to yellow. The dark green displays a violet tint in some photos. The light green becomes more olive.

Anyhow your Voodoo is very, very nice and the colours you used very convincing.  

 

@Jennings Heilig @LSP_K2

Thank you guys for your input. Much appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Quang

[quang]

This is what I suspected all along. There’s no easy way out. But I had to try , didn't’ I?

Thanks Jennings for replying.

Quang

[LSP_K2]

4 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

Aeromaster was the only company I'm aware of that ever tried to do "faded" colors, and (according to Gaston Bernal) they were a failure.  The problem is that "fading" model paints is by definition a highly subjective artistic choice, and no two people are going to do it the same - nor should they.  Otherwise you'd just end up with a bunch of faded models that looked the same.  

 

I still have a dozen or so bottles, and love the stuff. When used in conjunction with Gunze, Tamiya and/or Model Master paints, some very interesting visual effects can be had. I'll be doing much the same on a big Bf 109 that I'm currently working on.