RAF Dark Green: a good hobby paint match?

5 May 2013

Edit: I've completed my switch to acrylics, and have looked at more paints to match RAF Dark Green.

I've also acquired a copy of British Aviation Colours of World War Two, Crown Copyright, 1976.  My edition has the color chips in a fold-out in the back.

I checked my acrylic paint samples, against a similar white background and compared each.  The colors I looked at are:

• Humbrol 116
• Humbrol 163
• PollyScale 5250
• Tamiya XF81
• Model Master 4849
• Vallejo 892
• Vallejo 893

Hu 116 is a perfect match.  Hu 163 is darker but only slightly so and could be an acceptable substitute.  PS 5250 is darker still than Hu 163.  XF81 is darker and slightly greener.  MM 4849 is very much greener.  Vallejo's 892 is very much greener and a close match to MM 4849, while 893 is a perfect match.

I also compared FS34079 to the swatch; it is greener and darker than the swatch.  Interestingly, PS 5250 is a near perfect match to FS34079, yet against the Dark Green swatch does not look as far off.

My last test was to compare to FS14056, a suggested FS color for DuPont T1-013, the US equivalent color to Dark Green that was used on the P-40 and some other US built aircraft.  Of note, I do not have a swatch of DuPont T1-013 for comparison.  Vallejo's 892 was a near match with MM 4849 being close enough to be the same.

Summary

Having a reference swatch for comparison, versus a generally accepted paint, is very informative.

Humbrol's enamel 116 is a perfect match to FS34079, which is NOT a match to RAF Dark Green.

Humbrol's acrylic 116 and Vallejo's 893 are both a perfect match to RAF Dark Green.

If modeling a US build aircraft in DuPont T1-013 Dark Green, and if FS14056 is the correct match, then Vallejo's 892 or Model Master 4849 are good matches.

Original - 18 August 2011

There is plenty of debate over which dark green hobby paint most closely matches RAF Dark Green. The IPMS Stockholm site (here) recommends Humbrol (Hu) 116 for the WWII timeframe and Hu 163 for post war (after the High Speed Silver phase, IMHO). That site is getting dated, but most folks swear by the cross reference as still fairly useful.

Tamiya XF-81 is supposed to be a pretty good match and some folks swear by any FS34079 match. I've yet to use Tamiya XF-81 but it looks the same to my eye as Hu 116. Hu 163 looks darker and bluer to my eye than Hu 116, but only ever so slightly and that could be due to its satin sheen versus the matte sheen of Hu 116. FS34079 seems too olive when compared to Hu 116 and even more so next to Hu 163.

Model Master RAF Dark Green looks more like just another FS34079. Pollyscale Dark Green (5250) is identical to Hu 116.

Some day I may try the Vallejo line as I do like the consistency of the paint and the color choices are extensive. Unfortunately they are not readily available as I don't have a local hobby shop.

Until my Hu 116 is depleted, I'll stick with it.  After that I'm shifting to Tamiya XF-81 because it's a) a near match, and b) acrylic.

Thanks for looking...