MRP-A110 SEA Camouflage FS34102

SEA Camouflage FS 34102 - Mr.Paint, Aqua Range

This is a modeling paint, not a kit. The abbreviation SEA does not mean the sea but South East Asia. It denotes the four-color tactical scheme of the US Air Force that appeared over Vietnam from the mid-1960s and became one of the best known camouflage patterns of all. FS 34102 is the medium green in it - the lighter of the pair of greens that form the basis of the camouflage on the upper surfaces.

The Role of the Shade in the Camouflage

The whole trick of the scheme lies in its low contrast. The upper surfaces received three colors in soft, irregular fields: the dark green FS 34079, this medium green FS 34102 and the brown FS 30219. The two greens are deliberately close to each other - seen from above and from altitude they blend into the jungle, yet close up they break up the shape of the aircraft. The undersides, by contrast, are light gray, FS 36622 (black on night aircraft and gunships). You therefore cannot build the camouflage without the other three shades - this green is one of four colors that belong together. The scheme was worn by the F-4 Phantom II, the F-105 Thunderchief, the A-1 Skyraider, the F-100, the A-7, the C-130 and the light observation O-1, among others.

Chemistry: The Aqua Range Is a Water-Thinnable Acrylic

Aqua is an acrylic range, thinned with water and usable with a brush and with an airbrush. One essential warning: the manufacturer also sells the same shade names in its lacquer (nitro) range, which is airbrush-only and has completely different chemistry. You cannot tell the two ranges apart by the name of the shade - this paint is acrylic and is thinned with water or with the acrylic thinner of the same range, never with nitro thinner.

Use

• Upper surfaces of American aircraft of the Vietnam War in the SEA scheme
• The green is usually applied as the first of the upper colors, and the other fields are then misted in or masked
• Spray the soft transitions of the camouflage freehand from a short distance and mask the hard edges
• Shake the bottle thoroughly before use and apply several thin coats
• Give the model a gloss coat before the decals and flatten it at the end

Who the paint is for

For modelers building American hardware of the Vietnam War who want to work with shades to the FS standard rather than mixing a green by guesswork. Expect that it will not paint the model on its own - the dark green, the brown and the gray of the undersides belong with it.

A modeling paint, not a kit. A water-thinnable acrylic. Keep out of reach of children. Ventilate and protect your airways when spraying. Do not thin with nitro thinner.