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Athol Grey colour mix

Discussion in 'Acrylics' started by Mat Lambert, Jun 15, 2016.

  1. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Does anybody have a good Vallejo Model Color mix for Athol Grey as seen on the greatcoats of the Guards regiments?
    [IMG]
    [IMG]
    [IMG]
    Cheers
    Mat
    anstontyke likes this.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Mat,

    Hard colour to get right a German gray or maybe a Black gray in Acrylics ..... Water soluable oils Payne's Gray might be a good starting point ...maybe with a touch of Prussian Blue


    Sorry can't be more helpful

    Nap
    anstontyke and Mat Lambert like this.
  3. OldTaff PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    An old mate of mine who was a guardsman used to say about the colour, " When you're nearer to, it looks half blue; the further away, it looks more grey " Not much help, but there you are......:happy: I think Nap's about right, juggle Paynes Grey and Indigo or Prussian Blue until you feel it's OK......

    Alan
  4. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    When I first looked at it I thought it was a bluish grey but when I looked a bit closer it seems to lean more towards purple grey (especially in the first pic).

    I don't know what that translates to in Vallejo colours but in artists oils (or acrylics I s'pose) I would make a blue grey mix with Ultramarine/Burnt Umber with a little bit more blue than umber, lighten with white until it is the correct value then add Crimson a tiny spot at a time until it looked about right.

    Save a bit of the original grey mix for shading, lighten with white - Bob's yer dad's brother.
  5. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    A good tip I picked up when colour matching is to print out what you want to paint and laminate it. You can then put paint straight on top to check your mix is in the right ball park. The paint will wipe off the laminated reference easily.
    Scotty, anstontyke and Mat Lambert like this.
  6. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    It is a difficult colour I've found - not sure if it's grey, grey blue, or grey purple.
    Cheers
    Mat
    anstontyke likes this.
  7. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Interesting point - I have been trying to capture the slightly purple/Violet/indigo hue but maybe for a small figure viewed from a scale distance of several dozen meters I should be happy to go a bit greyer.
    Cheers
    Mat
    anstontyke likes this.
  8. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks - at first I lightened Vallejo Black with Dark Sea Grey which is slightly blue/brown grey and thought I had nailed it until looking again the day after - now agree I need a bit of red or violet in there.
    Cheers
    Mat
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  9. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Good tip - I suppose you could also mix on a small pane of clear glass placed over a printed image too.
    Cheers
    Mat
    anstontyke and Eludia like this.
  10. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    That's one of the reasons I don't get on with acrylics too well, it never looks the same colour when it dries as it did when it was wet.
    anstontyke and Mat Lambert like this.
  11. Paul Kernan A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Mat
    Try this link. It's the power palette on the Reaper's Miniatures site. You upload the photo image and click on the colour you are interested in. It will suggest an acrylic match from their paint range. Hopefully it will help

    http://www.reapermini.com/PowerPalette/

    Paul
  12. peedee A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    What a great resource, good spot Paul.

    Mat, do you have Vallejo London Grey?
    If so I would add a touch of crimson, it already has blue hints in it.

    Psul.
    anstontyke and Mat Lambert like this.
  13. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Sorry Paul , I have only just seen this post, don't think I have London Grey but will look out for it.
    Cheers
    Mat
    anstontyke likes this.
  14. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    So in the end I used this.
    Dark Sea Grey mixed with Black and a generous touch of Dark Prussian Blue and a smaller touch of Magenta. Shadows were base plus more Dark Prussian Blue and Black. Highlights were base with Prussian Blue (not Dark) and a touch more Magenta and White.
    Here is the result - not quite the enigmatic violet grey in the reference photos but it's okay I think.

    [IMG]

    This figure is about done now but any further thoughts are appreciated as I have another greatcoated guard in the stash.

    Cheers
    Mat
  15. peedee A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Well done Mat that looks the biz.
    It was great to see you at Oundle yesterday too.

    Paul
    anstontyke and Mat Lambert like this.
  16. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks Paul - if you think it's 'the biz' then I must be doing something right, your opinion means a lot.
    Great to see you too - felt too brief but what a fantastic day.
    Cheers
    Mat
    anstontyke and peedee like this.
  17. Redcap A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    You have done a great job on the figure Matt and hope to see it at WR sometime in the future?
    Gary
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  18. mick3272 A Fixture

    Nelli Secundus Mat
    Nice job all round .
    Mick
    anstontyke and Mat Lambert like this.
  19. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks Gary - I'll bring it along to WR next month. It was a great figure to do!
    Cheers
    Mat
    anstontyke and Redcap like this.
  20. Mat Lambert A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I don't know about that Mick but thanks for the kind words!
    Cheers
    Mat
    anstontyke likes this.

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