Mr. Color - FS16081 motorová šedá

What Code FS16081 Means

The five-digit number comes from the American federal standard that unifies the shades used on military equipment. The first digit describes the gloss group, a six in second place places the shade among the greys, and the final three digits identify the specific tone. Behind this number is a dark, slightly greenish gray commonly called engine gray. It appears on engine sections, on unit covers and on parts of American aircraft equipment, where it became established as a factory shade.

Where to Use It on a Model

It works everywhere black would look too harsh: engine blocks, exhaust areas, landing gear bays, the insides of covers and small units. It also works well as a dark base under later layers or to fill panel lines, since it gives clear contrast against a lighter surrounding surface without overpowering it. On large camouflage areas, on the other hand, it is too dark; lighter greys from the same standard group are better suited there.

Working with the color

Gray shades carry a lot of white pigment, which settles in the bottle faster than dark pigment — so stir the contents every time, even if you used the paint recently. It is applied with an airbrush and thinned with thinner from the same range; water will not work here, since the binder is solvent-based. You fine-tune the gloss level on the finished surface with a final varnish, depending on whether the part should look freshly painted or worn from years of service. The cured film tolerates oil washes and dry pigments, so you can keep building up individual stages of weathering on top of it.