IONIC Smoke Grey

A smoke gray from the blue part of the chart

Smoke Grey is a neutral to slightly cool gray. The manufacturer did not place it among the earthy grays but in the middle of the blue group, and that says a good deal about the shade. It has a blue undertone and mixes with blue paints without going muddy. That saves modelers work, because this is exactly the kind of gray they look for when shading blue equipment.

Usual applications

It turns up most often on naval subjects, where it forms the base of deck areas and superstructures, and on modern low-visibility aircraft. In figure painting it stands in as a neutral gray for smoke, dust and mist around a base, and as a midtone between black and white that does not slide toward violet. It also serves well as a base under silver, to which it gives depth.

Technical notes

Gray shades cover best of all the color families, so one or two coats are usually enough even on a dark area. That makes them a rewarding base under difficult colors such as the yellows and violets. It is thinned with water or with a product from the same line, and for spraying the consistency of slightly thick milk is enough. It dries matte, which is an advantage when photographing a model, because the surface does not shine under a spotlight.

Mixing and shading

Adding white gives you lights on the upper surfaces, and dark blue, by contrast, shadows that do not look dirty. Modelers of vehicles mix dust deposits from it, because unlike beige it does not warm the whole model up. When sprayed it also serves as a translucent coat that evens out the shade of a whole area once the effects are finished.