Mr. Color - FS33531 žlutá

The yellow carried under the FS 33531 standard

The FS designation comes from the American federal standard of color shades on which military and civil regulations for finishing equipment rely. The four-digit number describes a specific tone, and its first digit at the same time says something about the degree of sheen, so this shade belongs to the matte group. For modelers the standard saves argument about whether the yellow should be warmer or cooler, because the tone is fixed and can be compared against a color chart.

Where a yellow like this appears on models

It occurs on training machines and their warning stripes, on markings of taxiways and handling areas, on quick-identification stripes, on airfield ground equipment, on handling trolleys and on protective elements meant to be unmissable from a distance.

Yellow is demanding on coverage

Yellow pigments are among the least covering of all. Laying them straight onto gray or dark plastic means many coats and the loss of the fine detail beneath them. It goes considerably better over a white or light gray base, or over a thin layer of the basic white from this range; the saturation is then reached in two or three light passes.

The base is a solvent-based lacquer, so it cannot be thinned with water. Depending on the consistency, ratios between 1:1 and 2:1 are used. It is applied with an airbrush; for the brush about a quarter of the volume in retarder of the same brand has to be added. The bottle volume is 10 ml.

Before the decals go on, it is worth pulling a gloss clear coat over the area, because even a semi-gloss surface can trap air under the carrier film. Once finished, the degree of sheen is evened out with a final clear coat.