Hobby color - transparentní zelená

A clear green for lights and tinted surfaces

The paints of the clear group contain no opaque pigment; they merely tint what lies beneath them. A green filter laid over a silver undercoat turns the surface into colored metal, and that is exactly how navigation lights, tinted instrument glass, bottles and rear reflectors are made. Over a white undercoat, by contrast, it looks like glass lit up by the sun.

What decides the result

Saturation is governed not by the shade but by the number of coats. A single thin one tints the undercoat barely noticeably, four make a deep bottle green, and the whole scale lies in between. The undercoat has to be smooth and glossy, because every scratch is emphasized beneath a translucent coat instead of disappearing. In an airbrush keep the pressure low and work slowly, because individual droplets cannot be hidden here.

Tried and tested tricks

• A silver or chrome undercoat beneath lit navigation lights
• Layering one coat at a time with a check against the light
• A drop in the recess of a reflector instead of an inserted lens
• Light tinting of canopy glazing and instrument boxes

It can be over-coated with a gloss varnish; a matte one would spoil the translucency and the light would stop looking lit. If you need to soften the shade, mix in a little of the clear varnish from the same range; thinning with water loses the evenness and blotches appear on the surface. Always test on a piece of clear plastic, not on paper, because paper does not capture the final impression.

A thinned drop wiped across the glass gives older machines a hint of a dull glassy layer.