I've just purchased a few of the Enamel WEM tins for my Hornet. Even though I use acrylic paints to airbrush, I'll use these paints as a reference guide. I do not question the accuracy of the colours, but do find them to be too dark. Do these paints need to be lightened for scale effect?

thanks in advance,
Frank

WEM brags about their accuracy. I've only used one of their colors...mahogany deck stain for my Lex. Pesonally, I think it is too dark. I think if you lighten them up a bit it will be fine. When I did the war colors, I mixed blues and grays to match the clor on the sides of the box. If I can find some WEM tins at the model show again this year, I'll probably pick up a couple of their blue / grey colors.

Hi Frank and Steve

I have used WEM Colourcotas for a couple of years so far and I don't think they are wrong...
But one thing that you should think is the scale effect.
Scaling down colours (appart from the model) should be done - but is a question of "taste" - like some modlers buiilding OOB or applying lots of PE and AM sets.

If you want to be completely accurate about it you should scale it down a littel with white.

I have read about a guy that had a mathematical way of scaling his colours.
I don't remember the formula exactly, buty it went something like this:
square root of the scale was converted to percentage and then he add that percentage of white to the specific colour (I think it was on Warship Modeler Mag Volume I number 4)

Skipper

Hi Rui,

Another consideration in 700th scale (and smaller) is the degree to which colours tend to grey out as you get further away. For a lack of better terms, it seems that the colour of a viewed subject tends to bleed out as you walk further away. Eventually losing all the colour, and leaving you with a monochromatic image. (I have a lot of time on my hand these days )

All of my 700 scale ships are in hindsight way too colourful for my liking, I hope to put this into practice with my next batch of models.

Frank

Atmosphere can make this tricks

That's why landscapes and far away objects tend to turn gray/blueish in colour....

I am really look forward to see more of your model warships (or others)

Skipper

That's Gary Kingzett - he's a member of my local IPMS chapter. He scratchbuilt the battleship New Jersey (BB-16) from the Great White Fleet that graces the cover of the latest edition of Warship Modeler.

Gary believes in scaling down his paints, and he was building in 1/144 scale! I think it's a matter of taste - I don't do it. The only accomidation I will make is to sometimes use a very dark gray in place of black. I think it's a matter of choice and taste. Do what works for you - if you want to scale your paints down, by all means do so.

Hi Martin

That is the modeler in question! Thanks!
But back to the topic of scaling down the colours.... I never did - but then only very recently I stated to work in 1/700 scale - so I can consider myself a newbie

Skipper