Blues (Part 2) and Other Painting Quandries

Since my original quest for FS 35190 blue, things have changed a little in the paint world.  The only line to originally contain the color was Xtracolor.  I wasn't complete sold on the shade, and went with Humbrol 48 instead.  Since then, Vallejo has added the color, which didn't convince me either.  They have an immense line of colors, sometimes correlating two shades to one FS number, leading me to think they often generally approximate rather than determining the exact color.  (Interestingly 35190 is one of the few colors that Lifecolor never introduced (another immense line with multiple matches)).

Now, with the accelerate decline of the venerable Testor's Model Master line, I figured it was time to branch out to explore the emerging lines of new lacquer paint.  My first foray was to try Mr Paint.  They have a full range of FS colors, so I tried their 35190, along with 35109 and 35450.  The paint performance was phenomenal, but the color matches of all three were off to me.  I have yet to try some of their more basic colors, but a few more trials with be forthcoming.  Next, I moved on to try AK Interactive Real color. A more basic test of 36188 showed a good color match, although this brand is much thicker than MRP, resulting in a little less of a high performance rating.  The 35190 seems closer than MRP, and with a few drops of white, it seems quite close to a real match.  Part of the issue may be that real-world use of 35190 seems problematic - it appears to be one of those colors that fades faster than others in use and appears differently in alternate light than its color chip shows (and seems to appear even different in scale).

Finding a suitable make of 35190 has solved one problem, although its still leaves me asking questions about my current project, a NSWAC F-16B splinter.  All of the marking sheets have listed the light blue as 35190. This has been revealed as incorrect, with 35450 being the actual color, as the blue appears much lighter.  This can be seen in touch-ups as the Navy uses 35190, resulting in a three-blue camo. After building the jet in 35450, I'm more convinced that the actual color is 35190, but that it fades so fast into a lighter color, that any touch-ups appear as a different shade, as some photos of a cleanly painted jet suggest.  But, in practical appearance, the heavily worn Navy jets appear neither 35450 or 35190, leading me to think a heavily weathered model would have been best rather than the clean build I'm working on.

As for the larger paint situation, Model Master has drastically cut their line, with common colors such as 36118, 36270 and 34079 being discontinued.  The metalizers are gone as well, and on the acrylic side, common colors like 36375 are deleted.  This has been even more disconcerting than when they cut their Model Master II line.  Their 35109 was spot on, and I think I've bought the last few bottles remaining in on-line retailer stocks (and makes me want to search out all those unsold bottles sitting in the corners of hobby shops across the world). This latest reduction means that I'm forced to find new alternatives, with the top priority being color accuracy.  AK Real seems like the top contender (with a great selection of aggressors colors, some never done before), with MRP hopefully filling in some colors.  The next test will be Hataka, which also has numerous aggressor offerings and will hopefully be accurate.