A ready-made set removes the most tedious part of the preparation: tracking down the right shades one at a time. Manufacturers assemble them around a particular machine, army or period, so a single box covers a whole camouflage scheme including the interior and undercarriage tones.
Alongside themed packs you will also find general starter collections of basic colours. Below we look at when a set earns its keep and when it is smarter to build the palette jar by jar.
A set is assembled against one brief. If you are building the subject it was made for, you get the correct shades without decoding tables and without the risk of buying the early-war tone instead of the late one. The second reason is practical: a set is a sensible way into a new paint type without reaching for twenty separate jars.
Themed sets are tied to a specific squadron, army or conflict. Watch the date qualifier in the name, because the same type of machine wore different finishes across its service life. Colour charts serve the same purpose, showing the tone printed on paper.
Choose according to what you already know how to handle and what thinner is on your bench. The range includes Hataka sets split across several lines, ICM sets, ATOM sets, Lifecolor sets, IONIC sets and Green Stuff World sets. Each is drawn from its own palette, so the set also decides what you will thin with.
Small sets of a few shades cover one scheme; larger collections work as a long-term bench foundation. With a big box, expect part of the contents to wait for later projects, so store it somewhere with a stable temperature.
If you prefer to assemble your own palette, move across to the model paints overview and pick shade by shade.
