Combat Mechas & Robots paint set

A palette for combat machines

Building a giant piloted machine has its own rules. No real subject exists, so there is nothing to compare with a photograph, but there is an expected look: industrial, workmanlike, with pronounced surfaces and technical details left on show. This lineup is put together for exactly such an intention and aims at kits of mecha and humanoid robots.

Pairs, not single tones

Most of the shades here do not stand on their own. The gray has its base and a shadow tone to go with it, the green has a base and a lightening to go with it, so the surfaces can be graded without mixing. Beside them stands a black-gray, which suits the seams, the joints and the inner structure, and a red oxide suitable for a primer coat and for places rubbed down to the anti-corrosion layer.

• A black-gray for the seams, the joints and the inner parts of the structure
• A red oxide as a primer and as a rubbed-through anti-corrosion layer
• Traffic yellow RAL 1023 for warning stripes and markings
• A metallic blue for striking surfaces and accessories
• A pair of grays and a pair of greens for grading the surfaces

The warning yellow as the key to credibility

Of all eight tones it is the most ordinary yellow that does the most work. Diagonal stripes by the hatches, the marking of walkways and bands around the handling points turn an abstract shape into a machine that the viewer feels someone operates. Without them the model stays a toy. The metallic blue, by contrast, serves sparingly, on only a few surfaces, so that a contrast arises on the model between the workmanlike surface and the technical-looking core.