The periscope range from the Czech maker Sira Hobby offers seven shades: blue, blue-green, green, yellow, orange, violet and black. The binder is an acrylic dispersion, so the paint thins and washes out with ordinary water and carries almost no smell.
It goes on with a brush or an airbrush, and the saturated tones work well on small fittings and markings, as well as serving as a base for mixing intermediate shades of your own. The notes below cover coverage over light and dark grounds and the small amount of preparation these tones repay.
Seven strong shades are not a camouflage palette; they are a detail palette. These are the colours for the small things that bring a model to life: coloured markings, covers, signal elements and individual fittings. The second use is mixing, because a saturated blue, yellow and black will generate a whole scale of intermediate tones as you need them.
An acrylic dispersion takes plain water, so no aggressive thinner is needed and brushes wash out the moment you finish. For spraying, bring the paint to a suitable consistency and lay it down in thin coats; the equipment is in the airbrush section.
Saturated shades cover better over a light ground. With yellow and orange it is worth laying a white or light grey coat first, otherwise you will be chasing coverage with pass after pass. Let each layer dry properly before the next.
On small areas, hand application is the practical route. A fine point and firm hair help, and the choice is in the modelling brushes category. Once dry, the colour can be sealed with a clear coat to whatever sheen you want.
For a comparison with other acrylic ranges, open acrylic model paints, or take the complete overview in the model paints category.
