4BO RUSSIAN GREEN MODULATION SET

Soviet green in four levels of brightness

The protective green designated 4BO covered the overwhelming majority of Soviet equipment from the 1930s deep into the postwar period. On a model, though, a uniform spray of a single shade takes the depth away and the broad surfaces of machines of the T-34 or IS-2 type then come across as flat. Modulation solves that problem by changing the brightness according to how daylight would fall on the given surface.

The package supplies the whole chain at once: a very dark green for the shadows under the fenders and the lower areas, the base Russian green for the vertical walls, a lighter variant of 4BO for the horizontal panels and a silvery gray under the serial number 28 for the highest edges and rivets. The differences between the levels are deliberately small, so that they can be blended smoothly by thinning.

It is sprayed from the bottom up and each time onto a smaller area than before, the lightest tone only in a narrow band. Anyone working with a brush will reach the same by layering very thinned paint; he only has to give it more time.

Figures: four containers of 17 ml, water-thinnable acrylic, a matte result, a brush as well as an airbrush. The set deals only with the base coat; dirt, dust and traces of use are done afterwards with washes and pigments separately.

Sketch the layout out on paper beforehand. Draw the outline of the vehicle from the side and mark where the light comes from, otherwise it easily happens that one side of the hull gets its lightening at the top and the other in the middle and the finished model comes across as disordered. One direction of lighting held to is more important than the number of levels used.