The Little World

So can I, and all we need to do is pick up the wrong pot of paint.

The colour question has divided people for centuries… and no more so than in the hobby shop. The number of paints available to camouflage toy airplanes is exceeded only by the number of people who claim to know the exact shade of Mongolian air force cockpits – and who always tell you that you have the wrong shade.

There are two ways to deal with this; amass colour reference information yourself and fight them every millimetre of the way…or smile and blow them a raspberry. I have adopted the latter as a money and time saving measure.

It doesn’t licence me to paint Lancasters in candy-apple purple and pink A pattern. There are limits to event the bravest of new worlds. But it does allow me a fair bit of wriggle-room when it comes to minor bits of in-service Messerschmitts. I do take notice of RLM, FS, BS, and all other references, but would still prefer it if everything was specified as a Pantone shade.

Of course if colour fascism is not new, nor is it entirely related to historic accuracy. A lot of it is self-aggrandisement and control, and that will never change. The competition between worshippers of one paint religion versus those of another can also play a part. If there is a disparity in hue or shade or specularity, the one that is in the range of paints you support is naturally true, and the rest heretic. Fortunately, few paints actually burn when poured round a stake.