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8-1 The rock castings, ground cover and trees are products sold by hobby shops that specialize in model
railroad supplies. The tank is Doug DeCounter’s Italeri Panzer I V.
SCALE COLOR THEORY in which you spray flat black paint on two
For years, most modelers have primarily cardboard squares,one 12 x 12 inches and
concerned themselves with the full-size the other 2 x 2 inches. Outdoors, in sunlight,
or prototype color in terms of accuracy and lay the 12 x 12 card upright against a neutral
availability. The manufacturers, for the most background.Now back away, holding the
part,have collectively provided modelers with 2 x 2 square at arm’s length in front of you,
the more popular colors, usually matched until the two squares appear the same size.
to some prototype paint chip sample or You will notice, while the black square in
standard. In general, this has kept modelers your hand remains unchanged, the larger
quite content. But a growing number of square appears lighter, more grayish.This
conscientious modelers are becoming aware has been termed the Distance Effect. Under
of the theory of Scale Color. consistent lighting the intensity or tone of a
given color or hue will diminish the further
The Scale Color Theory is founded on the
away from it you get. Although a fairly recent
observation that our planet’s atmosphere
concept to modelers, accomplished landscape
is not crystal clear or transparent at all.
painters have observed the Distance Effect
Modeler/researcher David Klaus in his
for a hundred years or more.You can see, in
excellent publication, The IPMS Color Cross-
the artwork of John Constable for example,
Reference Guide, has suggested an exercise
the foreground objects are rich and vibrant
in hue, yet, as you gaze further back into SCALE OF PERCENTAGE OF
the painting, objects become more muted CHOICE WHITE TO ADD
gray and less intense. He accomplished 1/32 and 1/35 7–10%
this by adding white, grays, and even browns 1/48* 10–25%
into his colors to compensate for the Distance
1/72 and 1/76 15–30%
Effect.
1/87 20–35%
How does this apply to models? Well,
if you hold a 1/48-scale airplane 12 inches 1/144 23–38%
from your eyes, it is the same as observing A little more or less white will not spoil a
the real thing 48 feet a way. Naturally the thing.
Distance Effect causes the colors on the
*As an example, a lot of 1/48-scale aircraft
full-size aircraft to lighten or gray (remember
modelers prefer as much as 25% white
the black squares) as opposed to the
additive.
full-strength prototype color applied to
the 1/48-scale model. Model Master II provides three whites for
this purpose to be used in flat, semi-gloss
CREATING SCALE COLOR and gloss applications as required:
One could conceivably spend endless No. 2142 FS 37925 Flat White
time and effort achieving scale color by de- No. 2143 RLM 21 Semi-Gloss White
intensifying each hue with minor adjustments
No. 2144 FS 17925 Gloss White
in that hue’s pigment,and some may wish
to do so. It would also seem natural to borrow
from the landscape artists and add gray to
a color, to deintensify it. However, most
camouflage hues are low intensity, or loaded
with a lot of gray. Adding more gray could
change the color too much.
The broader, most acceptable solution,
which yields excellent effects with minimal
fuss, is to add white to camouflage colors in
various proportions depending on the scale
you are working in. White will reasonably
tone down the camouflage colors, to impart
the proper Scale Color Effect.
NOTE: The proportions themselves are
not agreed upon by all, as the mere observa-
tion of color is, by nature, a unique experi-
ence for each of us. The proportions given
here do reflect the conservative consensus
of modelers worldwide.
8-2 This is the type of incredible realism you can produce on a replica of an aluminum aircraft using
Metalizer paints polished to a sheen that looks like real metal.
8-9 Doug DeCounter used Plastruct plastic tube, with the ends chamfered to a sharp edge, to make the smoke
dischargers on his Italeri Tiger I. The brackets are etchings from On the Mark.