Color Modulation Paints - WW2 German Gray set [Unboxing and a Preliminary Review]

Color Modulation is a painting technique that plays with lights and shadows in order to create sharp contrasts and subsequently depth on a scale model kit. In short, it's a technique that enables scale modelers to add life to an otherwise monotone finish, or at the very least create a visually interesting piece. This technique accentuates the highlights and shadows on a model kit beyond what would naturally occur in the real world. And therein lies the rub. Some find results to be too cartoonish and unrealistic while others think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Me, I'm somewhere in between. Here then is a review of the paints I'll use for this technique in my upcoming AFV project.

Mr.Hobby Mr.Color Color Modulation Set (German Gray Version) ... that's certainly a mouthful to say

Box art on the packaging shows colors included as well as a concise description of the technique

For hobbyists working under a tight budget, it's possible to forgo use of paint sets formulated specifically for color modulation. In most cases, such sets have paints of a specific color that vary in tint, shade, and tone. This means as long as you have the primary hue to work with, you can then add white (to vary the tint), add black (to vary the shade) and/or add gray (to vary the tone). But I do find using ready-mix paint sets to be huge time savers that far outweigh the cost incurred.      

Other Mr.Hobby Color Modulation Sets include Dark Yellow (above), Olive Drab (above) and Russian Green (not shown)

On the flip side of the mini-booklet are instructions on how to apply paint using color modulation technique 

Wit the color modulation set being a Mr.Hobby product, I proceeded to use Mr.Color Leveling Thinner to dilute the lacquer paints at a ratio of roughly 1:1. Based on experience, I find that this ratio or even a ratio 1 paint to 1.5 thinner works well when airbrushing Mr.Color lacquer paints. Of course there will always be exceptions depending on a specific hue's pigments. But in general, any range between these two ratios tend to be the sweet spot for me in achieving smooth thin coats.  

Left to right: GG Shadows CMC09 , German Gray C40, GG Highlight 1 CMC07 & GG Highlight 2 CMC08

Color Modulation Paints were mixed with the Mr.Color Leveling Thinner at a ratio of around 1:1

German gray color modulation paints airbrushed onto plastic spoons coated with light gray primer beforehand

Because I had bought some Tamiya TS-4 German Gray Grey spray cans before I got my existing airbrush setup, I decided to see if I could incorporate that spray paint color into the ready-mix color modulation scheme. Sadly a spoon paint test (see below) showed me that it wasn't ideal to use the Tamiya gray together with the Mr.Color grays. If you look really closely, you should be able to notice that the Tamiya gray is completely neutral while the Mr.Color grays have a beige-like tint to them. So for now, it looks like I'll only be using the color modulation paint set sans the Tamiya gray.

Tamiya TS-4 German Grey spray can paint was also included in the color modulation test

Compared to Mr.Hobby paints that have a beige-like tint to its gray hues, the Tamiya TS-4 has a neutral tone

TS-4 ranks 2nd in brightness; but not by much as shown when it's placed in the middle of the spectrum 

Moreover the gray hues of Mr.Color are closer those found on the molded-in color (pre-colored) plastic parts (see below). Both have this light beige-like quality to them with transcends the monotone neutral grays like those found on the Tamiya spray can. To be fair this doesn't mean there is no place for neutral grays on an AFV color scheme. On the contrary, such neutral hues may be better suited when you're planning to use a filter later in order to alter the overall color scheme. On that note, I'll need to see if I would need to apply a filter on my chosen paint set to get the final hue I want.   

Mr.Color CMC07 and Tamiya TS-4 compared to the German Gray hue on the Sturmgeschütz III kit's plastic parts

Due to the Tamiya TS-4's slightly different tone, it won't be used in conjunction with the Mr.Hobby paint set

Having absolutely zero experience with color modulation techniques for sure makes the soon-to-begin Sturmgeschütz III project a fairly daunting one. Part of me wants to do bugger all and just maintain previous practices of using a monotone hue before subsequently varying it through the use of weathering effects. But as tempting as this option may be, I would be derelict in my duty to improve as a painter and modeler if I didn't give this technique a go. So that's what I'll do in the coming months. With the week is almost over, dear readers, I hope you have a great weekend.   

Bumblebee, Autobot Transformer in Beetle form [Video showcasing the Fully Painted Interior and Engine]

Amidst a slight lull in the assembly and painting of existing scale model kit or miniature figurine projects, I decided to try my hand at producing and editing a more professional looking hobby-related video. And despite being generally okay with the results of my maiden attempt, there are admittedly a lot of areas that require improvement as I'll touch upon later in this post. By chronicling my initial effort here, I hope to highlight some of the potential issues a hobbyist is faced with during the video shoot as well as post production. Some things you aren't aware of, until you actually try doing them.

Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen Beetle; Bumblebee proxy: fully painted interior and rear-engine

Conscious of keeping things within a small budget I made use of existing equipment whenever possible. So that meant using my mileage-heavy iPhone 7 Plus as the visual recording device. Early videos had been shot using an even older Canon EOS 650D DSLR camera, which remains my primary photography equipment. But sadly videos taken using the camera couldn't match the quality generated by the iPhone, even an out-of-date one, hence the switch. In terms of technological age, the Canon 650D hit the market at around 2012 while the iPhone 7 Plus came out four years later. 

Recording setups for videos (left) and voice-overs (right) of FourEyedMonster Vlogs

On the software side of things, I needed a wireless solution that enabled me to see in real-time what I was recording on my laptop as I was recording them with my iPhone. Because my iOS-based iPhone didn't play nice with my Windows-based laptop, I couldn't do a simple screen mirroring of the video images. Instead, I found myself having to purchase a third-party software that lets Windows and iOS talk to each other remotely. I'm pretty sure tech gurus out there are aware of a cheaper solution but for me the best option available was a wireless screen-mirroring application called Reflector 3.   

Screen-mirroring software that displays video being captured on my iPhone, in real-time on my laptop

Meanwhile, to record better quality voice-overs I plumped for a locally branded low- to mid-price range USB condenser microphone namely the Gaming Freak Chanter Nano. This product has since been discontinued so if you looking for one in Malaysia it might not be as readily stocked as before. Anyway, this cardioid pattern (i.e. highest sensitivity to sound is from the front) microphone has a respectable sampling rate of 16 bit / 48 kHz. All in all, I found this microphone not only easy to use (plug and play) but also provided a decent enough voice-over quality. For someone not blessed with the narrative qualities of Morgan Freeman or David Attenborough, I need all the help I can get.

Chanter NANO is a locally-branded USB condenser microphone at the low- to mid-price range

This budget microphone has a cardioid pickup pattern with a 16 bit/48 kHz sampling rate

Solidly build, the Chanter Nano isn't the best on the market but it's a great choice for beginners

So how did my first 'proper' video production turn out. Well, more misses than hits to be honest. The following is a long list of things, if time had permitted, I coulda woulda shoulda done better:

a) Most noticeable is how fast I seem to be talking in this video. A simple explanation for this is that the hurried voice-over is directly correlated to the extremely short length of the video. When I first shot the video, I hadn't considered what I was going to say in detail hence no script was prepared beforehand. I was essentially stuck in my old mindset of thinking the video would be accompanied only by background music. So when the time came to do the voice-over, I found myself speaking extraordinarily fast to fit a specific narrative within a scene that was too short in length.

b) An inability to autofocus on my iPhone resulted in an irritating visual abberation. Each time the less than ideal manual focus was engaged, the video would brighten up exponentially. Going forward, I might've to find a way to shoot around this and edit the abberation out.

c) Time constraints during video production/editing meant there weren't any visual indicators to point out parts of the scale model kit being talked about. Obviously this can be a problem if you are either new to the hobby or unfamiliar with the kit in question. Thankfully, this is one issue that can be easily rectified without having to resort to lengthy post-production video editing. In the future, all I have to do is use a toothpick to physically point out what I'm talking about. It's that simple.

d) Technically my iPhone keeps heating up and shutting down in mid-shot. Whilst I do not know for sure, I suspect there are two possible culprits in this issue. Firstly, my iPhone is very old and its battery is perhaps no longer working at an optimum level. Secondly, the screen-mirroring software isn't syncing the laptop and phone as seamlessly and effectively as I would've liked. Both could be causing the battery to drain quickly, also implying the phone is being utilized too aggressively.    

e) And because I'm still adpating to doing videos that are more than a 360 degree shot of completed projects, I frequently found myself blocking the lens with my hands. Although it wasn't too much of an issue for this particular video, it became disconcerting in videos that I was doing assembly work. Hopefully this is one problem that will go away with increased experience.

To view the video showcasing the fully painted interior and engine of the Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle (1966 Model), please click on the image below:

Notwithstanding all the issues, there are still nuggets of useful footage to be gleaned from the video above. At the very least, it should give you a glimpse of the potential inherent in this kit. Thank you for taking the time to view it and I'll certainly try my utmost best to make better ones in the future. Again many thanks if you had spent your precious time in viewing my video. Please do not hesitate to leave some constructive criticism if you have any. Thanks again, and have a great weekend ahead!

Space Battleship Yamato 2199, Cosmo Reverse Ver. [WIP - Burnt Metal Effect on the Exhaust Nozzle]

In a move based more on flexing my creative license rather than mimicking physical reality, I went ahead to paint a burnt metal look on the Space Battleship Yamato Exhaust Nozzle. This effect is often found on titanium car exhaust mufflers with a burnt tip (see background image in photo below). While I've seen such burnt effects on jet engine nozzles, I don't have the requisite knowledge to know for sure if such effects would occur on a space-faring ship. But at the end of the day, it would've been too much ado about nothing considering that the Wave Motion Engine (to which the nozzle attachs) is itself a piece of fiction anyway. So the fact it looks kinda cool is good enough for me to do it.  

Burnt effects on the Yamato's Exhaust Nozzle (background: reference photo of a car titanium exhaust)

A duo of parts making up the Exhaust Nozzle were both airbrushed with the burnt metal effect using the candy paint finish technique. Materials used include the Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black, Mr. Color Super Chrome Silver 2, Tamiya X-23 Clear Blue, Tamiya X-27 Clear Red, Mr. Clear Color i.e. GX106 Clear Orange; GX102 Deep Clear Red; GX 107 Clear Purple, Mr. Color Leveling Thinner as well as the Gaianotes T-06h Thinner. Note: Both thinners were used interchangeably. 

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 work-in-progress: Burnt effects on the Exhaust Nozzle [blue background]

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 work-in-progress: Burnt effects on the Exhaust Nozzle [black background]

Method-wise, the process began with the priming of the Exhaust Nozzle parts using Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 (Black). This Mr. Hobby product produces a fine matte-like coat of primer that forms a base for any subsequent metallic colors. Generally it's advisable to further apply a light coat of gloss black paint if you are looking to achieve an extremely shiny metallic finish. But in this case I wasn't looking for that extra shine so just the Mr. Finishing Surfacer primer coat was sufficient for me.

Stage 1: Exhaust Nozzle primed using Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 (Black)

And true to form, the subsequent metallic layer of Mr. Color Super Chrome Silver 2 did indeed look very shiny (see below) even without an added layer of gloss black paint. Normally at this stage I would then proceed to apply panel lines onto the nozzle. However it wasn't the right thing to do here because the burnt metal effect required additional layers of paint, which would've covered up most of the panel lines anyway. Surprisingly, panel-lining wasn't even required in the end as I'll explain later.

Stage 2: Exhaust Nozzle basecoated using Mr. Color Super Chrome Silver 2

Once the metallic paint, in this case the chrome silver, had been airbrushed onto the Exhaust Nozzle then it was time to apply the burnt metal effect. The underlying technique to this effect was the use of candy paint finishes on the bare metal layer. Starting off with a Clear Orange hue before transitioning to a brownish Clear Deep Red, followed by Clear Red then Clear Purple before ending with Clear Blue. Most of the hues were airbrushed in thin bands except for the final Clear Blue. Lastly, a light, thin coat of the Clear Purple hue was airbrushed over the entire nozzle in order to unify the colors. 

Stage 3: Exhaust Nozzle clear coated with four different clear hues ranging from ...

As mentioned earlier, I had ended up not doing any panel lining on the Exhaust Nozzle. To me, the contrast between the grooves on the nozzle and the overall burnt metal effect seemed sufficiently stark, such that no further work was needed. Not everything turned out well though as I damaged the burnt metal effect on a section of the nozzle. This I did when airbrushing a final light coat of Clear Purple to unify all existing hues. What happened was I had diluted the clear paint with too much thinner. And to compound things I had inadvertently set the airbrush paint flow velocity too high. Combined, these factors resulted in the underlying colors dissolving into unsightly paint smears.   

... orange, deep red, red, purple, and blue; each layer overlapping one another in aforementioned order

An airbrushing error in which too much thinner was used resulted in paint smears

An exhaust piece located at the inlet was also painted in a burnt metal look

To get an idea of how the Exhaust Nozzle would look in its usual operating environment namely outer space, I took some shots using a black background (see below). Because differently colored backgrounds usually cause optical illusions which affect how we view colors, I was surprised to find that the nozzle looked the same when viewed against either backgrounds. This certainly gives me something to chew on as I aspire to generate photos with a higher degree of color consistency.

Wave Motion Engine Exhaust Nozzle with burnt metal effects against a black background

Burnt metal effects on the Exhaust Nozzle, viewed from a slightly different angle

Unsightly paint smears on the Exhaust Nozzle cause by too much thinner being used when airbrushing

Unfortunately the paint smears are located in the more visible top side of the Exhaust Nozzle ...

... with the less visible underside receiving a much better paint job quality overall

Other painted exhaust piece located at the inlet shown here against a black background

My choice to do a burnt metal effect on the nozzle is not only likely to be far removed from reality, it is also not in keeping with how the ship actually looks in the anime (see below). So if you're a purist then you're not going to like the end result to my version of the Yamato one bit. And that's okay. In fact, not getting the colors exactly right would normally bug me no end. This wasn't the case this time around because I plan to do many more versions of the Space Battleship Yamato in slightly different color schemes, hence I left myself some room for a bit of creative interpretation on this particular kit.

Reference image of the Space Battleship Yamato with its rear engine engaged

At the end of it all, I am truly pleased to have tried out yet another new technique i.e. the burnt metal effect seen mainly on titanium car exhaust mufflers. Despite having messed up a section of the Wave Motion Engine Exhaust Nozzle by causing paint to smear, I am still elated with the end results seeing that it was my first attempt at this effect. And even if doing this doesn't turn out to be the right call, it was one I had to make, if for no other reason than to see if this effect can work on the iconic ship.

Truth be told I haven't been able to get much hobby-related work done this month as I got back into another love of mine ... sim racing. I had finally managed to get my almost ten-year-old Logitech G27 steering wheel/pedals/stick shift to work on a Windows 10 laptop. And while I try to maintain a fine balance between real life COVID-19 economic uncertainties, scale model kit as well as miniature figurine projects and sim racing ... I leave you with this famous piece of motorsport commentary from Murray Walker ... One light, two lights, three lights, four lights, five lights, and it's go, go, go!

Space Battleship Yamato 2199, Cosmo Reverse Ver. [WIP - Hull Interior & Wave Motion Engine]

Undoubtedly, the early steps of the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Cosmo Reverse version) project are going to be quite boring to the neutral observer. For that I apologize. While my work-in-progress blogs may hopefully be of help to scale modelers looking to tailor an approach to painting a particular section of a model kit, it admittedly lacks the razzmatazz of projects at more advanced stages of completion. Sadly, the Hull Interior and Wave Motion Engine parts are no exception. But please bear with me as I hope to eventually make this journey worth your while. On that note, let us proceed.
  

Space Battleship Yamato work-in-progress: Hull Interior & Wave Motion Engine painted parts/sub-assemblies

Montage of instructions involving the assembly of the Hull Interior and Wave Motion Engine

To provide context as to where these painted parts and sub-assemblies are to be placed in the overall scheme of things, I created a photo montage (see above) from the instructions. In addition, I marked the parts involved with a green star so that they stand out from the general outer Hull Plate pieces. Meanwhile, it a conscious decision on my part to use spray cans (instead of airbrush) to paint the Hull Interior and Wave Motion Engine surfaces. This was a trade-off that was made to maintain a good pace in the progress i.e. not waste too much time on parts that will generally be hidden from view. 

Screenshot of a section of the Yamato's Hull Interior when exposed to an alien ocean

Above is an elongated triangular connector piece (left) and a circular Hull Interior piece (right)

Connector piece attaches to the circular Hull Interior piece, before eventually slotting into the Yamato

While the interior piece has been painted, the connector remains unpainted in its original molded colors

A rectangular Hull Interior piece and Hangar Bay Bottom Door Hinge, all painted and panel-lined

However there were consequences from hurrying through the painting process. (Essentially using spray cans to paint will always be so much faster because there isn't any of the airbrush cleanup process afterwards.) The slight dip in desired quality was, to me, evident. Compared to the screenshot below, the Tamiya TS92 Metallic Orange turned out to be a hue that was too dark for the engine. I'm pretty sure if I had airbrushed a candy metallic orange I would've achieved a lighter hue, closer to the one seen in the anime. It was generally the same for the Hull Interior as the Tamiya AS29 Grey Green looks a bit too dark compared to the anime screenshot (see above earlier). 

Screenshot of the Yamato's Wave Motion Engine, with the crew providing a sense of scale

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Wave Motion Engine, painted in metallic orange and panel-lined

Note unpainted sections of the Hull Interior/Connector piece (left) and Wave Motion Engine (right) ...

... which connect the parts to each other, and eventually to the inner framework of the Yamato

Thankfully, as we move along the Yamato from its bow to stern things become way more interesting. Right at the end of the ship is the Engine Nozzle, and this part is going to receive special treatment in terms of technique, which I can now attempt seeing that I've an airbrush system. Normally I would just paint it metallic light gun metal or silver, then do a wash and panel-lining. Now though, I intend to try doing a scorched metal or burnt metal look on the nozzle akin to what you would normally see on a car's titanium exhaust. At the very least, it should make for a better read than this post.    

And on that note, I leave you with yet another tenuously-linked "quote". This is a simple outburst of pure joy; one that has to do with the color orange. The Wave Motion Engine is orange ... it's a power unit that propels the ship forward ... motion ... an orange race car moving fast ... the McLaren F1 car ... Lando Norris, third youngest podium finisher of all time at the Red Bull Ring, Austrian Grand Prix last week ... his reaction at the checkered flag ... Yeaaah Boooyy!!! Woo Hoo Hoooo!