The Little World

Or the other way around?

I can’t remember the correct sequence for mixing custom colours that need several hues or shades in one pot. Do I put light drops into a dark base or vice versa?

I ask this because I need a purple for the top of a WW1 German aircraft and there are no purples in my paint rack. I know it will be blue and red some way, but before I start to mix a capful and end up with a bucket…I want to get it right.

Note that I have pretty much stopped worrying about the specularity of the various paints in my collection. I mix matte with gloss happily, and then adjust the final result with the appropriate lacquer overspray. I even podge alcohol-based acrylics with lacquer -based ones occasionally and so far nothing has exploded.

I do test out strange combinations before I commit to them – Stupid Science Theatre did a comprehensive test on combinations and we know which ones to avoid absolutely. But the test surprised me in how far chemical systems could be combined.