Painting Question

I mean i want it to be realistic with the coating but i fear being to detailed will take a ton of work and time and for it being my first model maybe doing something simple at first then getting better at detailing it. I am also in the states but live in a small small town we have a local hobby store they sell mostly testors.
As I already said, it is going to be difficult to replicate the rocket you're looking to achieve - especially if you are a beginner.
Start out with something simple. Find a kit to use as a mule kit to experiment or practice various weathering techniques.

The clear is for use as a filter .
I'm recommending starting with those or similar colors .
Tweaking hues is just part of the process .
That's why I suggested mixing orange using white, grey, black, brown if the OP doesn't have the funds to buy all these bottles of various orange colors.

any gloss can be made matte quite easily so that's never an issue .
Well duh… everybody knows a coat of flat will make gloss look flat.

There is so much variation in the orange I would get a rust color, an orange, and a yellow. Then I would mix them up as needed to replicate the different shades.

No arguments there since he will be handbrushing it. It may not be accurate but it may be good enough for the OP.
 
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I may not be an experienced plastic model painter, but...
heres my two cents as an experienced airbrusher and artist(painter).

Much of the varying shade and effect is because the paint is applied over an uneven rough surface.
Is it ablative coating?
This also helps produce the matte finish, but you could easily spray dullcote at the end.

The orange coating is one colour, one orange.
The lighter bands are the closest thing to the paint colour imo.
In fact, the end cap of the main stage is the colour I would start with.

Interior photos are best for judging the colour,
note how the orange takes on varying dark and light depending on the sunlight and angles of light.

If you airbrush an orange it will be somewhat transparent and you can spray unevenly.
But you could also start with a transparent orange.
Try Createx or AutoAir line of paints: dozens of transparent oranges to choose from.

The darker areas are orange over rougher surface and a thicker coating,
achieved by spraying over an underlying darker colour.

The bands and seams have little or no ablative coating (thats why they appear lighter).
(Might actually be tape like how pink ablative coating was used on the X15,
although the X15 got an additional coat of white ablative.)

You'll have to experiment over different colours to find the right effect for the darker areas.
I would suggest something like a "burnt orange", maybe a bit of brown.
And then apply the trans orange overtop.

I think the best effect will come from applying that underlying rough surface first.
Brush painting some latex primer might produce the thin coat of roughness.
 
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That's the reason I posted the various photos -- lighting is everything .

The OP has no airbrush .
The material is foam insulation , not an ablative .

Starting with a yellow and building transparent color is definitely the way to go but keep in mind that this is the OP's first build and a neophyte concerning subtractive color and experience thinning and layering acrylics for effect .
I figured starting with the base color from a rattle can would be the best option , then layer for the modulation , darker and darker .
 
Here is where I would paint everything one color. Then apply different clearcoats over each area based on "texture." And you can even take that one color and SLIGHTLY tint it lighter or darker to help "see" the changes in "texture."
 
This is what you said : " Clearcoat doesn't fade colors. Flat, gloss, or semi- gloss, even satin clearcoats has no effect in color shade changes - only the sheen. "
WRONG .
The flattening agent in the film , amorphous silica , scatters the light , not only affecting flux ( saturation ) , but setting up destructive interference waves returning to the eye . Further changing the spectrum .
Color exist only in the mind . It's the way the brain interprets the narrow band of frequencies detected by the eye , a different stimulus in the eye equals a different color in the brain .

You're arguing water isn't wet .
 
Same color but different shade tints/sheen using different clearcoats. Glossy makes it shiny, flat dulls the color, semi-gloss tones down the shiny, satin tones down the semi-gloss. It's simple logic. That was my point! I could care less about the chemical agents of different clearcoat sheens/tints - nobody does. Geez….
 

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