Hi folks,
I got my hands on a Revell “Build&Play” TLJ A-Wing yesterday for an insane price. I am considering giving it the classic McQuarrie "R-22 Spearhead"paint scheme from the Return of the Jedi concept painting.
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Carefully analyzing the painting, I have the impression that (opposite to what ended up in the movie) as if this ship would have a very light, worn aluminium finish as the base color.
Now I only wonder how to achieve this with any of the commerially available model paint solutions (Tamiya, Vallejo, Humbrol etc.)
Can you give me any hints?
First an admission and disclaimer
First and foremost I am by far nowhere near as skilled in kit building as a lot of people on here. What I have found though is that there is a lot of subjectivity in our hobby- meaning people do what they think looks best to them. I may not be at the build level of a lot on here, but I can say this, I do know paint and colors
I used to develop advanced paint based projection screens and took courses at RPI on color science. Dr. Mark Fairchild and I had some lengthy discussions on color theory and the human eye. Our eyes are really the biggest factor because no two people see color exactly the same. This is why it can be so hard to match things by looking at pictures, especially on a computer ,monitor. Calibration is the key if you're trying for a 100% match... and everything must be calibrated to the same color space and standard. I even have a spectrophotometer and had a colorimeter when I was doing screens.
As mentioned, white and black are the hardest because they are not really a color. The problem is there are two types of color, additive and subtractive. When dealing with video images it's additive, when creating paint shades and colors it's subtractive. Black, and white are not colors. Black is the absence of color, white is the presence of all colors (in an additive system). Where it gets really tricky is to create a paint we use pigments, and there really is no such thing as a 'pure' pigment. What that means is the color and shade will always be slightly different between batches. Usually it's not by much, but there will be a difference. That doesn't mean every bottle of paint you get will be different looking- they are small bottles and literally hundreds if not thousands are filled from the same batch. The next batch however could be slightly off, again this is usually not perceivable to the human eye, but it can be. That's why professionals always mix their paint 50/50 from separate cans. That provides the best match in the event you have two cans/bottles from different batches.
All that said... and apologies about going all Mr Science on everyone
... everything looks slightly different to everyone. Again with that said, people will naturally have a different take and opinion on what looks right 'to them'.
David I like using metallics a lot. To me I just think it makes sense in some applications. I've used Testors (yes THAT brand) Metalizers with some really good effects. I like the buffing metallics and to me... the aluminum plate, when buffed and given a high gloss finish can have an almost whitish gray or even a pearl white kind of look. (pearl paints and other iridescence are often considered metallics). Aluminum plate that's given a dull coat and weathering wash tends to have a light gray look (to me). So I usually layer things with aluminum, stainless steel, and other metallics for different effects. I personally really like spraying a base coat (after primer of course) of either aluminum plate or stainless, and then use hair spray in different areas I want weathered. Then I put down a top coat of white or light gray and scrub the hell out of the areas I want to look worn with a tooth brush. It exposes the base metal coat in some areas, but also thins the top coat in other areas giving it a slightly translucent look that's not quite 'bare metal' but starting to look worn, To me it makes a good transition and blends in with the 'exposed' metal area.
For other builds like my Cylon Raider, it's all metallics.. aluminum plate, stainless, titanium, magnesium, and dark gun metal. In certain light it looks gray, in other light it looks like metal. Also the rear louvers look different depending on the light (there is that eye thing and colors again
) I'm also kind of a minimalist in a way. I personally think if these ships were real, how would they be painting and repairing them. I'd think they wouldn't have time to get fancy so things would look a bit pieced together. On the Empire side (or Trek) I take a different approach. To me they do put a lot of effort into design and looks, so they tend to have a more pristine and well maintained look with only light wear and tear and weathering.
So I guess what I am saying is I really doubt ILM and the guys that build these props for movies spend a lot of time mixing special colors. They have to be able to match things if they need to do a repair, or build a ship again for a new movie. As I mentioned it's hard enough to get a 'perfect match' even with factory made colors, custom mixing would be a nightmare to match. Then throw in there that we all see things differently and two different people could mix two different colors/shades. Sooo... I guess that was just a long winded way of saying me personally, I try to make things look realistic and accurate to me.
BTW I got my grandson that same kit and he loves it and had fun putting it together with me
