MiG-21SMT

Alistair Graham
Like many other people i have had difficulty in matching the Soviet interior blue/green colour Eduard use on their photo etch parts. The colour on the instructions call it Emerald Green, with the Humbrol equivalent #2, this must be a mistake however. I thought i had solved the problem by purchasing a tin of Xtracolour Soviet interior blue (painted #1 in the photo) but clearly this is no good. I then had an idea and popped to the local B&Q DIY store and matched up by eye as close as i could with home matt emulsion paint. #3i the photo is Crown Matchpot 'Palm Springs' but this is a little darker and too greeninsh. Then i painted #2 which is B&Q's own 'Colours' range 'Tropez blue' but this is a bit light and too bluish. I then just mixed the two colours with my brush to produce#4 which is pretty close to the Eduard colour. I dont have exact ratio for this as it was done by trial and error. However using these matchpots is an economical way to paint models since the volume and cost are so much cheaper than model paint. This has now got me wondering how many other paint colours could be done this way. OK maybe camo colours will be difficult to get but worth a look into anyway.