Mr. Color - žlutohnědá

A yellow-brown tone for desert and wood

A light brown broken toward yellow sits somewhere between sand and lightly roasted coffee. It is among the most universal colors of the whole palette, because it works in two directions: on its own it serves as a finished coat, and at the same time it is an excellent lightening element that moves the other earthy shades a step up without graying them the way white does.

Typical use

It comes into play on the desert vehicles of the North African and Middle Eastern campaigns, on cases and crates, on canvas tarpaulins, on the straps and belts of equipment, on a ship deck of unpainted wood and on the dried earth of a base. Figure painters mix the base of khaki uniforms from it, and aircraft builders take it for the undersides of machines operating over the desert. In vents and seams, after a dark wash is applied over it, exactly the contrast remains that makes a surface legible even in a photograph.

Practical advice

Light earthy tones are judged badly under artificial light, so assess the spray by a window, otherwise in the evening the area will come out noticeably redder than it really is. It is thinned exclusively with products intended for this range; water and spirit cleaners do not work. Apply thin coats and stir the contents before every load, because the pigment settles in the bottle faster than with saturated colors. Once dry, the semi-matte surface readily accepts pigments and oil paints. Spray the shade onto a piece of scrap plastic as a test, not straight onto a finished model.