The Little World

Is it just me or is it hard to find The True Meaning Of Olive Drab?

I need to paint a number of USAAF planes and I am going to avoid the flashy multicolour of nose art and loud decals. I just want cooking quality Army ships for a diorama. You’d think that Olive Drab and Neutral grey would be two easy things to get.

Oh, you can get jars that say Olive Drab and some that quote FS numbers and all – but equally you can get fragments of the True Cross down at our local Bunnings in the timber section…and I have often wondered about them…

The problem is further compounded by the variety of depiction that Olive Drab is subject to on box art, colour call-outs, paintings, or internet art. Add to that the fact that US Army vehicles and structures may also be said to bear the colour, but seem to have markedly different shades, and you can see my quandary.

Phil Flory or any other expert modeller would solve this in a minute by laying over a thick wash of mud and rubbing it down with a hedgehog. I am not so confident. I would be glad if I could achieve a match between the specularity of the decals and the main aircraft surface – and if this could be a matt without dulling everything I would consider it a roaring success. So far this has been a spotty ( as in real spots ) occurrence.

I have a feeling that I should have stopped at one bottle of OD and not tried to get one of every type. I even note that my favourite brand – GSI Creos Mr Color – has two versions, which confuses me. And when it comes to the Neutral Grey for the undersides I am going to go for their No. 13 and have done with it. You can only go down so many rabbit holes before you become a rabbit.

Note: For a later column…I shall put on my prettiest bonnet and my new pink shoes and go out to buy interior green for USAAF models. And carry my .44 pistol in case I meet any wolves in the woods.