Shade of brown in old PC10

[Romani]

Here we go away in the quest for that elusive Holy Grail

I'm fed up with PC10. Really really fed up. After much research and discussion in this forum and messy experimentation, I had come to the conclusion that Tamiya XF-51 Khaki Drab (WWII USAAF khaki top surfaces) was the right color, or as right as you could get easily from a store. The exact shade of brown with just a tinge of green.

Predictably, I ran out of paint after covering up the previous unsuccessful attempts at coats of dark green or solid brown. So I buy a new jar of the same stuff... surprise! It's not khaki at all but rather a dusty olive green, really really green. Now I have to paint all over again the 2 Camels and the SE5 I'm doing.


Just bad luck? Or are these variations in pigment a common occurence. I still havem't found a Tamiya Olive Green jar that is the real thing and there are not 2 alike jars, seems that color is rather unstable.

Anyway, enough of my woes. I give up on the whole Khaki-green thing. Now I will paint all my British planes brown. Unfortunately, the average brown is either reddish brown, or flat earth. I wonder what's the exact shade of brown appropiate. If I recall correctly, PC10 darkened with sun, turning into a chocolate brown, but that doesn't tell much. I guess I'm looking for a dark ochre color, but can't find it on Tamiya or Vallejo references.

I tried to make PC10 myself, mixing orange (iron oxide = rust= orange) and a little of black to taste looks quite good, but wonder if anybody can give me the recipe, how many parts of black to orange?

[Romani]

Ok, for anyone interested, I mixed Vallejo Ochre Brown (more Ochre than rust orange) with black, and the resulting finish is quite approximate to the color plates in Osprey Camel Aces. It certainly is a welcome change from the greenish ting eof khaki drab.

It seems that the more orange the Ochre, the greener the end result (orange close to yellow, black close to blue , yellow + blue = green)

[Ginger.]

You'll not go far wrong with my improvement :p on PeterL's method. Paint 'em with Humbrol 'Brown Bess' and then laugh in the face of any bugger that says it's not accurate.
Before you let this PC10 rhubarb drive you bonkers... At a recent event I heard one nobhead say in all seriousness.
"That Greek mercenary slinger from the Battle of Mantineia is very nice, pity about his tunic though, they never wore that shade of unbleached linen in 362 BC."
:wacko:

[PeterL]

You'll not go far wrong with my improvement :p on PeterL's method. Paint 'em with Humbrol 'Brown Bess' and then laugh in the face of any bugger that says it's not accurate.

Misterkit "skidmark brown" can be considered a useful alternative for the russet gusset shade known as PC12.

[WarrenD]

Romani,
Sorry to hear about your troubles with the inconsistency of Tamiya paints. Interestingly, an old modeling friend from the "other" WWI list told me long ago to just get a bottle of WWII USAAF OD and use that for PC10. Add red or yellow to taste if you want a greener or browner color.
It kills me when I read articles in the modeling press where someone claims, with some kind of authority, that PC10 was actually such-and-such a color. You'd think that some modelers were/are convinced that the paint or dope manufacturers had computer control. (Even with computer control you get variation in lots. I've seen it with my own eyes!)
I think Ginger and Peter are right, you paint itwhat you think looks right, and then laugh your tail off at any bugger that thinks he is the paint chip police!

Warren
PS: Are you aboslutely sold on acryllics? I have found Model Master enamels to be pretty consistent, maybe their acryllis are too?