Help with mixing paints

[75thRanger]

Hey guys, I need some help. First off, the trumpeter F4F wildcat that I am building is almost done except that I ran into a problem with the decals. The insignia decals went on like they were made out of cardboard. No chance of conforming to the shape of the model itself much less showing rivet detail even after multiple applications of micros sol. I need to find out if anyone has attempted to paint the insignias using tamiya paints and if so, what colors did use mix. I am also working on a Pz III and need to find the correct paint color and ratio for desert tan and the armor grey that would have been underneath. I can't really afford to go out and but more paints at this time so i have to use the tamiya that I have. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[MarkVerploeg]

i think i can help with the panzer colors
the dark yellow top coat can be.made with xf60 i think it is
the normal dark yellow from tamiya wich can be made a bit lighter on some surfaces with buff color and a bit of white to get the effect of exposure to lots of sunlight
as for the grey , tamiya german grey will do the job but this is very dark
so a bit of white or even better a bit of a light grey from tamiya will make it a bit lighter
don't over do this though as the actual german grey was rather dark and a afrika korps vehicle was a pretty new vehicle before they are.painted yellow
so just run so experiments on some scrap pieces of styrene to get the mix you want and all should.go well
i hope.this helps.
cheers Mark

[75thRanger]

i think i can help with the panzer colors
the dark yellow top coat can be.made with xf60 i think it is
the normal dark yellow from tamiya wich can be made a bit lighter on some surfaces with buff color and a bit of white to get the effect of exposure to lots of sunlight
as for the grey , tamiya german grey will do the job but this is very dark
so a bit of white or even better a bit of a light grey from tamiya will make it a bit lighter
don't over do this though as the actual german grey was rather dark and a afrika korps vehicle was a pretty new vehicle before they are.painted yellow
so just run so experiments on some scrap pieces of styrene to get the mix you want and all should.go well
i hope.this helps.
cheers Mark

Thank you very much Mark. That does help out a lot. Now if I can just find someone that knows what colors to use for insignia blue, all will be well. I am going to start cataloging all of the different colors that I mix from different kits so that I will have a reference.

[MarkVerploeg]

ooh 1 thing i forgot to mention
when you use a lighter version of a color it will become lighter
but use white and it will become pale aswell
if you keep that in mind you can make almost every color you want