Oil Dot Colors - German WW2 Tri Color

Which three to four oil colors would you use for oil dot filters on a German Tri Colored vehicle (in my case a 1/35 King Tiger at the opening of Dec ‘44 Ardennes Offensive)? Thank you for your help

1 Like

Welcome aboard! I hope you find this forum a friendly and useful place. While not everyone uses this technique, those who do all seem to have their favorite color choices, which can be quite diverse.
You might take a look at this site and see what they did on this subject.
https://foureyed-monster.blogspot.com/2018/12/meng-model-sdkfz182-king-tiger-with.html

I personally use some of the Abteilung 502 colors, like Olive green and Buff, along with W&N oils like Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Payne’s Grey, Raw Umber, Naples Yellow and Burnt Sienna.

2 Likes

Thank you for your advice and very nice work!

Welcome aboard NN … Can’t help on the oil dot method as I rarely use it, some of the guys do so you will get some good info and ideas :+1:

I’ve started to use oils more and more. I’d say the following, go sparingly at first, if you apply them over a thin coat of mineral spirits they will spread more than you expect. Keep a color wheel handy so you don’t accidentally blend two oils to get an unexpected hue. My first go I used some primary blues and yellows and got a heavier green tint but learning is part of it.

If you want to enrich your base colors choose one to two oils that compliment it, browns w umbers for example. If you are using it to fade and blend then use umbers, siennas, Payne grey and blacks. White and lighter colors should brighten the base colors from experience.

If I’m leaning more on weathering like streaks and trying to mute my base I stick to greys, blacks for rain streaks. If it’s more rust and mud and dirt then I favor umbers and siennas. Streaks I pull the oils in the natural flow that it would follow so on a Sherman my dots are on the upper hull and turret and worked downwards. On a NATO style tri color I center my dots in the middle of the color and work outwards (hope that makes sense) if I’m trying to get a richer finish.

Be sure to ‘leach’ the linseed oil out before you start. I put a dab of the colors I want to work with on cardboard first, let them sit about 15 minutes or so then you’ll be working with the prime pigment part of the oils. They’ll cooperate better with you minus the linseed oil. I apply sparingly with a small dot on the end of a toothpick, as I mentioned they’ll cover more area than you’d expect so it’s easier to add and layer than to go too much and try and remove from my experience.