Blue Game Color Set

One color in three steps

The small sets from the end of the code range are built differently from the large boxes. Instead of a wide palette they offer a single color tone broken down into steps, that is a base, a darker shadow and a lighter crest. For blue that means you do not have to struggle with mixing, where hitting the same ratio a second time is difficult.

Two thin applications instead of one

Blue belongs among the shades with weaker covering power. Even so, do not take it thick from the bottle; the correct procedure is to thin it and lay it twice. The first application will look imperfect and show through, the second will even it out. A heavy coat will cover at the first go, but it floods the engraving and leaves an unpleasant ridge on the edge.

Shadow into the hollows, light on the edges

Thin the darker step so that it runs freely and let it flow into the folds and joints. Take the surplus off the flat areas with a damp brush while the paint is fresh. The lightest step, by contrast, should be taken thicker and applied only to the places that would really catch the light: the tops of folds, the edges of plates and the upper edges.

Brush, or airbrush

With a trio intended for one color an airbrush as a rule does not pay off. The preparation and the cleaning take more time than the work itself and all three steps would be applied to small areas anyway. It pays off only when you need the same blue evenly across a whole group of figures at once. Even then, the shadow and the lightest step are finished by hand, because both aim at very small areas.