paint rant - ghost greys

[Waltz41]

Went yesterday and today to spray down my revell 1/48 e superhornet.....using model master enamels.....ugh, the dark ghost grey was lighter than the light ghost grey. This has happen to me on more than one occassion, even once with gunzo's brand. This happen to anyone else? Or do I just suck at getting paints!?!

And does anyone have any advice on mixing up paint colors to get the desired effect? Guess I have to respray it all over again.....

[toadwbg]

The Ghost Greys are some of the worst represented colors in all of modeldom IMHO.

I've had luck with MM Enamel versions in the past, sounds like you got some bad ones. Make sure they are properly mixed up ahead of time as I forgot to do this once and crap was the result.

[EagleAviation]

I would suggest that you go for Gunze or MM acrylics.

[fulcrum1]

I second Gunze with Ghost Gray. That color is can be a bear.....

[caudleryan]

Try adding a drop or two of black. Did the trick for me.

RYAN.

[DutyCat]

I am VERY surprised to hear this. I have been using MM enamels for years and the ghost grays are well known for their color fidelity. I did a draw many years ago of Humbrol and MM, put them on a card side by side and compared them to FS-595A. Both MM grays were spot on. The Humbrol LGG was too light and the DGG was too dark. Also, both Humbrol colors lacked that distinctive slight blue tint that the ghost grays are known for. Are you sure you didn't mix up your paints? How do they compare in the bottle?

Anyway, I generally add a bit of white to LGG to create some contrast.

[Devilleader501]

To be quite honest with you I never actually use paints like those out of the bottle unless its in very small areas that arent very visible. Instead i like to mix my own in very large batches. I store them usually in baby food jars. they actually store quite well might i add. I like to mix my paints with a normal dark gull grey and add white till i get the lightness i want and add a dark navy flat blue a little at a time until i get the right hue. depends on how much i mix at a time. I can usually come up with a very close match to the ghost greys everyone else sells but when i mix them i get way more for cheaper than to go out and buy the expensive paints. I also normally use store baught thinners in large containers and normal cheap testor brand paints and still have not ever had a problem. hope this helps.

[toadwbg]

To be quite honest with you I never actually use paints like those out of the bottle unless its in very small areas that arent very visible. Instead i like to mix my own in very large batches. I store them usually in baby food jars. they actually store quite well might i add. I like to mix my paints with a normal dark gull grey and add white till i get the lightness i want and add a dark navy flat blue a little at a time until i get the right hue. depends on how much i mix at a time. I can usually come up with a very close match to the ghost greys everyone else sells but when i mix them i get way more for cheaper than to go out and buy the expensive paints. I also normally use store baught thinners in large containers and normal cheap testor brand paints and still have not ever had a problem. hope this helps.

How about sharing some formulas? Kudos on doing your mixing by the way, I find myself doing more and more of this.

There are some published mixes for Tamiya Crylics out there, I'll post em if I can find em.

[toadwbg]

I havn't tried these myself and can't take credit for them. Tamiya Mixes:

Light Ghost Grey (FS-36375)

XF2 - Flat White:15

XF24 - Dark Grey:3

XF66 - Light Grey:2

Dark Ghost Grey (FS-36320)

XF66 - Light Grey:11

XF2 - Flat White:7

XF24 - Dark Grey:2

[Waltz41]

Yeah I am sure I didn't mix up the bottles, I had just purchased them from my local hobby shop. I also am pretty sure I mixed them up pretty well too, guess I just got a bad batch. I'm thinking from now on I am going to 'test' them by spraying a little on some sprues and mixing in some white or black depending if its needed. Thanks for the replys, I might go ahead and try another brand as well, but convience and what I know are the main reasons I use MM.

[MHaz]

Toss a couple BB's into the bottles to help mix things up. If you get the silver (chrome?) BB's, they won't react with the paint. I got a 1000 pack of BB's at Walmart for something like $7.95 a couple years ago, and I haven't used up 10% of them yet. They also do nicely as nose weights, too.