Dark Green JGSDF

The color

A paint of the Gunze Mr.Color line in a dark green shade that the manufacturer carries under the designation of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. The vehicles of that force wear camouflage made up of two tones, a dark green and a brown, and it is the green part of the pattern that this shade covers. It is a deep, rather cool green with no leaning toward olive, so next to the ordinary greens of other armies it looks noticeably darker.

How to work with the paint

• Shake the bottle thoroughly before use, because settled pigment shifts the shade.
• Thin it with the thinner of the same line; a thinner from another system can curdle the paint.
• It shows at its best in an airbrush; apply several thin coats.
• Let the surface set up between coats, because one heavy coat floods the fine relief.
• Let the paint cure before masking, not merely dry to the touch, otherwise the tape will pull the coat off.
• Work in a well-ventilated space and clean the airbrush and brushes right after the work.

Before you put the shade on a model

Try it on an offcut of plastic treated with the same primer you will use on the model. Dark greens are sensitive to what is underneath: the tone comes out differently over a light base than over a dark one, and the final varnish shifts it noticeably as well, because a flat surface lightens the paint while a gloss one deepens it. With two-tone camouflage it also pays to spray both shades side by side; only in contrast can you see how the pattern will look on the model.

Who the paint is for

For builders of modern Japanese military vehicles who want a shade matching the real subject, and for modelers who can use a dark green in a palette of their own.

The package contains the paint. Thinner, brushes and an airbrush are not included, unless stated otherwise.