I've been using Tamiya 87026 Gray to prime some Mel's Miniatures. When putting a wash on the ships to fill in the paneling and bring out some details, I have overdone it in a few places, making the ship look dirty.

Unfortunately, I don't have any gray that matches this shade and I can't figure out which Tamiya colors match this primer.

Does anyone know?

I can provide more information if that would be helpful, but I think that's all the info that's on the spray bottle.

Thanks!

I can't match to Tamiya, but on first blush it looks like GW's Administratum Grey might be a good starting point.

This is the problem I'm trying to fix.

I'll look for the gray. I'm worried that if I paint over the smudgy panels, they will then stand out as too bright. Painting ships, for whatever reason, has turned out to be so much harder than painting Imperial Assault minis.

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You can just squirt a bit of Tamiya spray into a jam jar and then use that puddle of paint with a brush.

Not the best way to paint figures but to touch up a problem area it will be good enough.

You might want to use an old brush as I'm not sure that water or Tamiya paint thinners is the correct stuff to clean the paint they use in the spray can.

I actually tried that for the Vindicator. The panel on the right side, just in front of the bridge, was too smudged. After painting with the pooled spray paint (and it took a lot of spraying to get any that could be collected), it was way too bright. So I had to shade it again. Plus, the paint really didn't spread that well with a brush.

If I can't figure out the Tamiya match (it's so weird they don't tell you; isn't that the whole point of a primer?), I'll use the GW gray and try to mix it with some other shades to produce something close to the post-wash gray I'm using.

I need to get better at spreading my wash so these little smudges / pools of black don't happen.

No, actually... the point of a primer is to prepare the surface for painting and provide an undertone.

IT ITSELF IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A COLOUR

Old School Modelling and painting wisdom: Priming is not painting ?

It’s a shortcut. A horrible terrible shortcut promoted by “new” companies such as Army Painter, and thus enabled by Games Workshop.

Tamiya is an old school company. Their products are not designed for short cutting... But for kicking it old school, and doing things old school...

It does make a difference in the end... for most, it’s only a small one, but you have happened to hit a situation where it does...

Well, it would be weird to prime an Imperial ship gray, then brush over that primer with almost the exact same gray.

Being a rather mediocre painter, I've always used my primer as a basecoast (it started with stormtroopers).

Tamiya knows what shade that primer is. They definitely make a paint that matches it (they make about a dozen variants of light gray). They could easily list matches. Someone posted a chart in another forum of how to match some of their primers, but this one wasn't on it.

It is what it is. I just need to get better about doing washes. I've done three of these Star Destroyer-types now and each time, I mess up one panel (and usually just one panel). It's frustrating to get it 90% right and have no way to fix it.

It’s only weird because you are accustomed to using far too much primer.

The best Primer is a dust coat. To get the base to adhere. No more.

anything else risks obscuring details. And in this instance, these miniatures (and even IA ones) let you get away with it by not being super detailed ?

i looked at the Tamiya charts to try to match, saw there wasn’t one, checked some of my old modelling groups who champion Tamiya, and I have thusly passed the wisdom on to you that I was given there.

Thank you very much for the help and all the effort!

2 hours ago, jscott991 said:

I need to get better at spreading my wash so these little smudges / pools of black don't happen.

If you use GW Nuln oil wash (as many do) you can cut it with their mixing medium to lessen the strength and let it flow into the cracks. Immediately after use, while it is still wet, you can wipe away any excess on the flatter areas with clean kitchen towel wrapped around your finger.

If you want more control try using oil washes. You have about 20 minutes to move things about and take off excess with a brush dampened with thinners.

What's a good oil wash?

I have a Chimaera ISD model, that I've listed in the trade thread, that I'm trying to trade for a standard ISD model, but I don't have any takers so far. I'm afraid that I might have to try painting it to match my own standard one. I don't relish the task, as I'd rather spend the time painting squadrons, so I'd like to save some time by getting a good, even wash.

31 minutes ago, Mad Cat said:

If you use GW Nuln oil wash (as many do) you can cut it with their mixing medium to lessen the strength and let it flow into the cracks. Immediately after use, while it is still wet, you can wipe away any excess on the flatter areas with clean kitchen towel wrapped around your finger.

If you want more control try using oil washes. You have about 20 minutes to move things about and take off excess with a brush dampened with thinners.

I do use Nuln oil and I always cut it almost 50/50 with a matt medium.

With Star Destroyers (or their ilk), the problem with dabbing the excess off is that the towel frequently pulls the wash out of the cracks, which is what I'm trying to fill in.

I might be using the wrong brush (too small) or I might just need more practice at being precise.

My Vindicator is like 95% perfect. I was so thrilled with it, except for one panel that I kept making worse by trying to fix it (repainting, then re-washing, then re-painting, etc.).