Spitfire PR XIX Color Question

[slick]

My brother and I are building Airfix 1/48 Spitfire PR XIX kits and need help with PRU blue. I'm doing the British version and he is doing the Swedish version. We use Tamiya and Lifecolor paints. I've read that a good match is Tamiya XF18. I've not read anything about Lifecolor. We are looking for some help determining which paint to use (Tamiya or Lifecolor) and the mixing ratio's. I saw somewhere that the FS numbers are FS35164,FS35189,and FS35190 which is the best match?. Thanks Airfix,the Spitfire PR XIX is a nice kit. We have had a great time building this kit and highly recommend it. Thanks Ken

[Jennings]

The closesest FS match to RAF PRU Blue is 35189, but it's far from an exact match. There are no direct equivalents, being two different paint specs from two different countries in two different periods of time.

I have no experience with any out of the bottle match for PRU Blue other than Xtracrylics, which is excellent stuff that I highly recommend.

[is it windy yet?]

I have been happy with Polly scale PRU blue, but that is not what you are asking. Tamiya xf-18 might be as close as you can get straight from the bottle. I will have to compare my PRU blue to xf-18 and describe it. But from my memory the tamiya xf-18 is too grey to be a match for pru blue. The life colour paint I know nothing about, it's rarely seen in local shops. Tamiya xf-18 is a genaric mid blue that may come close to PRU blue but it is not mixed to be PRU blue. The life colour paint is likely to be mixed(at the factory) to be a PRU blue, but may not be a match for PRU blue.

[MikeC]

Hi Ken,

XF-18 on its own is too dark and not grey enough; 3 parts XF18 Medium Blue mixed with 2 parts XF-2 White is a near perfect match for PRU blue. This has the added advantage that you can vary the white if you're into post-shading.

Edited June 27, 2013 by MikeC

[slick]

Thanks MikeC that works and yes I'm going to postshade.