GERMAN RED PRIMER MODULATION SET

The red-brown coat under everything else

German military equipment of the Second World War was given an anti-corrosion primer in a red ocher shade at the factory, and only over that came the camouflage paint itself. Modelers care about this for two reasons. First, the primer shows everywhere the top coat has been worn or chipped away, that is, on the edges of hatches, around handles and on steps. Second, in the last months of the war there were machines that left the line with a minimum of top coat, so red-brown stayed the main color of the hull.

What modulation means

The modulation method works from the fact that a large surface painted in a single tone looks flat on a model, and smaller than it really is. The answer is to break it into bands according to how much light would fall on them: the upper parts lighten, the sides hold the middle tone and the lower edges darken. This set of four is meant for exactly that, with the individual steps already mixed, so there is no risk that the second half of the model will miss the first.

How the shades are laid out

• The darkest tone of ocher red as a shadow
• A mahogany brown base, the starting color of the surface
• A deeper brown for the first lightening
• A light brown for the edges and the most brightly lit places

Practical notes

The transitions come out best with an airbrush and heavily thinned paint applied a little at a time; the boundary between steps should bleed, not be drawn. The same can be done with a brush using a dry technique over a dried base. Anyone after a worn top coat lays this set of four down as the lower layer, lets it dry and then rubs or chips the camouflage paint over it in places. It is a good idea to even out the final surface with a clear coat, otherwise the steps differ in sheen once dry.