Balsa USA SPAD Colors

Hannover · 18 December 2008, 08:14 AM

I'm trying to duplicate the aluminized camouflage colors on my 1/4 scale Balsa USA SPAD. I'm using Behr housepaint colors, and I mixed in Behr water-based silver to get the metallic look. The paint was thinned down and applied with a high quality artist's acrylic brush. It took about four coats to get adequate coverage, but the process was speeded up by using a hair dryer between coats. The metal panel areas around the cowling and elsewhere will not have any silver mixed in.

From a distance the colors look normal, but up close, they look somewhat pearlescent, which is what I was after. I am happy that, even though I mixed in quite a bit of silver, it did not gray down the colors too much. I did not use any fancy Munsell or Methuen number to get the colors, I just eyeballed it. My first attempt at the light green looked a little too green to me, so I mixed some tan with the green paint to get it closer to olive green, and went over those areas with a couple more coats. The thinned paints dry very thin, so it doesn't build up too much.

So far, I'm happy with the way it's looking.

The color sheme I'm doing is from the book, SPAD Aces of WW1.

Jim

jtisch · 18 December 2008, 08:59 AM

Jim,
Looks good. You don't even notice it in the photo so it should be just about right! I saw a BUSA N28 many years ago where the aluminum powder was overdone and it kinda looked like one of those tricked out vans from the '70s.
I ordered some ultra fine alum powder and will try that out, but it is good to know that silver paint will work too.

J

Hannover · 18 December 2008, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtisch

Jim,
Looks good. You don't even notice it in the photo so it should be just about right! I saw a BUSA N28 many years ago where the aluminum powder was overdone and it kinda looked like one of those tricked out vans from the '70s.
I ordered some ultra fine alum powder and will try that out, but it is good to know that silver paint will work too.

J

I agree. I didn't want it to look too metallic. It will be interesting to hear of your experiments with the aluminum powder.

SCMc · 18 December 2008, 02:25 PM

Hi Jim,

It looks good to me. Did you start with stock colors or did you have your base colors color matched? Do you know what proportion of silver you used?

Steve

Hannover · 19 December 2008, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCMc

Hi Jim,

It looks good to me. Did you start with stock colors or did you have your base colors color matched? Do you know what proportion of silver you used?

Steve

I eyeballed the colors from those I had on hand...green, brown, yellow, red, black, tan, etc. Then, I added silver and tested on paper until it looked right to me. It's not very scientific, but it works. Like I said earlier, I painted all the light green on the plane and then changed my mind and did two more coats on top of it of a slightly different color. If you give me your address, I'll make up a swatch and send it to you.

Jim

Hannover · 6 January 2009, 05:32 AM

I'm working on the cowl panels before painting the front end of the model. I'm happy with the way the louvered panels look, but I might redo the engine blisters. They stick out too much and they should be cone-shaped, not tear-drop shaped. Maybe I'm being too picky?

Jim

jtisch · 21 January 2009, 03:29 PM

Jim,
How goes the SPAD? I got my aluminum powder so maybe I'll try a test sample sometime soon. As for being "too picky", you make your models to please you,IMHO.

J

jumpinjan · 21 January 2009, 07:22 PM

I'm going to build the BUSA's 1/4 scale N28 and I need conformation on the Methuen coding for the French 5-color.
In a previous post (Flypaper's) he shows some paint tests and the following coding:
Dark Green - 2F3-6, 4F3-6, 3F3-6, 29F3-6 and 30F3-6
Lt Green - 30E4-6
Chestnut Brown - 6F5-7
Beige - 5E5
Yellow (Undersides) - 4C4, 4B3, 5D4
Okay, my question is which code has the best likelyhood for dark green & yellow?
(I have the book and going to match to the closest color chip in the PPG database)
Jan

Hannover · 22 January 2009, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtisch

Jim,
How goes the SPAD? I got my aluminum powder so maybe I'll try a test sample sometime soon. As for being "too picky", you make your models to please you,IMHO.

I'm still working on the panels and louvers and stuff around the cowl. It looks kind of ugly now, but I'm almost ready to paint the color on. I'm using various pieces of plastic, balsa, and 1/64" plywood. The cowl fasteners are small rivets that I had on hand, and there are glue dots for the small scale rivets.

Jim

Hannover · 22 January 2009, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jumpinjan

I'm going to build the BUSA's 1/4 scale N28 and I need conformation on the Methuen coding for the French 5-color.
In a previous post (Flypaper's) he shows some paint tests and the following coding:
Dark Green - 2F3-6, 4F3-6, 3F3-6, 29F3-6 and 30F3-6
Lt Green - 30E4-6
Chestnut Brown - 6F5-7
Beige - 5E5
Yellow (Undersides) - 4C4, 4B3, 5D4
Okay, my question is which code has the best likelyhood for dark green & yellow?
(I have the book and going to match to the closest color chip in the PPG database)
Jan

Sorry, Jan, I didn't use any formulas for mixing the colors. I eyeballed them from various pictures I found on the internet and books that I have.

Jim