USN F14-A 1/72 from Academy
- Thread starter Plastic Pilot
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Jakko
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- Oct 9, 2024
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Keep in mind how big an F-14 is, though. It's only about 3.5 metres shorter than a B-17 (so ca. 5 cm in scale) and has two-thirds the wingspan with its wings forward, or with them folded back, its wingspan is somewhere around the span of the tail on the B-17.
blakeh1
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- Oct 26, 2011
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FS colors are a good place to start, but I think the reality is most paint manufacturers do not "scale" the colors so they wind up being darker than on the real thing. Also, weather, sunlight and other factors alter the way colors look.
i.e. in the end, a prefect matched FS color may not actually feel like the right choice anyway
For example, I swear most Ghost Greys I see fell too blue and dark. I have even gone to the naval air base museum near me and tried to match colors to the planes, and just about everyone look too dark or saturated, even when those are considered the "best" or "closest" matches to actual FS color swatches or sample panels
for example, Vallejo Dark Ghost Grey compared to what would be an FS 36320 area on this A-10
and then you get all this stuff for paint colors that are all supposed to represent Dark Ghost Grey
Funny thing is, many of these could look like closer matches depending on lighting, weathering, and other factors
For example, same plane, but a little farther away and on the shaded side it looks darker/bluer and actually matches the Vallejo color better
Same with Light Gull Grey FS 36440
Even though this is a fairly close match, I just feel like the things I have painted this color are way too dark compared to how the aircraft look sitting there at the museum or in pictures. And this I attribute to the scale factor and the need to lighten up colors the smaller you get model wise
i.e. in the end, a prefect matched FS color may not actually feel like the right choice anyway
For example, I swear most Ghost Greys I see fell too blue and dark. I have even gone to the naval air base museum near me and tried to match colors to the planes, and just about everyone look too dark or saturated, even when those are considered the "best" or "closest" matches to actual FS color swatches or sample panels
for example, Vallejo Dark Ghost Grey compared to what would be an FS 36320 area on this A-10
and then you get all this stuff for paint colors that are all supposed to represent Dark Ghost Grey
Funny thing is, many of these could look like closer matches depending on lighting, weathering, and other factors
For example, same plane, but a little farther away and on the shaded side it looks darker/bluer and actually matches the Vallejo color better
Same with Light Gull Grey FS 36440
Even though this is a fairly close match, I just feel like the things I have painted this color are way too dark compared to how the aircraft look sitting there at the museum or in pictures. And this I attribute to the scale factor and the need to lighten up colors the smaller you get model wise
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
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- 982
Yup yup and yup. That's why your room never looks like the house paint colour on the swatch. The smaller the swatch, the darker it looks.
If you can, a small can of house paint rolled onto a m² of wall will save you a lot of grief if 'that person' (they know who they are), insists on a perfect match with the couch!
Plastic Pilot
Member
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- May 25, 2024
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- 66
A dumb question... it's allways necessary scribing the panel lines of a model kit? How to know when to do it and when it's OK not to? And the best moment for scribing is before the primer, or after the base coat or at the end of the painting process just before panel lineing itself?
Thax.
Thax.
Littlemarten
Active Member
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- Dec 1, 2024
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- 125
Most kits these days have recessed panel lines. The only time you need to rescribe them is when they've been removed by sanding, usually along joints.
If the recessed panel lines are inaccurate or missing, fill the incorrect lines and scribe the correct ones.
With older kits having raised panel lines, you can sand the raised lines off and replace them by scribing.
The best scriber I have ever used is sold by UMM
blakeh1
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- Oct 26, 2011
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- 1,000
A good number of kits (at least aircraft kits) have way overdone panel lines that if scaled up would be like huge gaps/
I feel like if a kit needs panel lines, or has raised panel lines that you want to convert, it is better and easier/more forgiving to get a really fine mechanical pencil or similar to draw them on instead of scribing. Except for maybe certain areas that represent parts not actually joined or certain removable hatches etc...
also note, in some cases, raised panel lines are actually accurate
