Color / paint schemes

[dr wogz]

While digging though the rocket box & paint box, I wondered.. What colors really work well together.. What two cans-o-paint can I pair up for a really cool looking color combination.. And, If I think it’s cool, will others?

We have the basic three: Yellow, Blue & red, all of which go together, in varying shades, tones & tints.. And of course black, white, and the shades of grey go with just about anything..

We have the complimentary colors (oppocites on the color wheel), and trietary for 3-color combinations..

We have the standard method of comparing rattle can caps to get something that we find pleasing.. And we have paint gurus who mix & match their own colors..

So, with that, what color combination do you find appealing? Work for you? Have a definite “OOhhh” factor? What seems odd, but really work well together?

 

[MarkII]

Copper and chrome is one. Red, white and gold is another.

Red, white and blue ALWAYS looks good.

Flat khaki, flat olive green, flat brown and ultra flat black. (Pick any three.)

Neon pink and royal blue.

True blue or royal blue and sunshine yellow.

Bahama blue, satin jade and flat white.

Geo blue, smoke gray and satin white.

Gloss black and sunshine yellow (or even neon yellow!) - a very popular combo.

Leather boots brown and flat white. (Perhaps also with a thin slice of lime green? )

These are just a few.

MarkII

 

[MarkII]

Some people seem to think that sky blue and chocolate brown look good together, but I think that the combination is hideous.

The same is true for olive green and pink.

I do think that hunter green, pink and white might make a good combination, though.

Navy blue, gold, black and white work well together as a combo, as long as the navy blue is dominant. Black, gold and white used to be a popular combination, but it has been done to death now.

MarkII

 

[hcmbanjo]

I find workable color combinations everywhere.
Many times in product packaging, print advertisments and new car colors.
Some modelers go to extremes, using too many colors or just one.

My personal preferences are basic -
White body tube, second accent color (Red, Orange, Blue) on two fins and nose cone and black decals for crisp rim accents.

I also try to shy away from the obvious. Sometimes my nose cone/body tube masks are below the body tube top. It gives the illusion of a longer nose cone.
I won't just mask at the fin/body tube seams. Colors are often split or striped over the flat surface of the fin. Take the old Estes Omega, for example.
The best inspirations are old catalogs. If I'm stuck on a color or trim I'll always head over to Ninfinger.

 

[BR549]

Red/black and orange/black are my two favorite combos.

And it makes the rocket easy to see in the sky or on the ground.

 

[BsSmith]

I like Chrome/black, Gold/black, Yellow/black, and Blue/white the best.

 

[RangerStl]

I like this type of combo...

Sometimes cool, sometimes random

 

[Pantherjon]

I kind of like this color combination

And sometimes using 2 shades of the same color work well together as well

I also try 'different' combination's from time to time as well..And get good results

 

[powderburner]

I am always intrigued by eye-catching colors, patterns, and decoration schemes. I wish we had some sort of art expert who could explain to us about the "art" of combining colors (and there really is an art to it) to achieve various effects. I am not good at it and usually have to resort to looking for inspiration in other people's work.

One suggestion---sometimes you can get some ideas from looking at pix of race cars. Some of them are dramatic, some are flashy, some are garish.

 

[cls]

I like purple & (medium) green together. I don't like purple & yellow (opposites on color wheel) as much.

I really like the purple/green colorchange paint. The red/gold is cool too but not not my favorite.

for a while all my rockets were just plain gloss white. that was intended to be the undercoat and I never got back to doing the masking & painting.

then I moved on to doing lots of (gloss) black & white & red rockets.

Silver & gold are good together, on a "golden age" style model.

Any kind of camouflage pattern is always good. except on a 2-stager when you have to recover it in long grass. d'oh.

we tried a few "rainbow" paintjobs (red/orange/yellow/green/blue/purple) but they don't really look that great on a rocket.

artistically, I think it is best to have the nose & fins match, or be offset, from the airframe solid (or pattern).

Shades of a color can be pleasing, like black & dark grey & light grey, or dark purple & medium purple & lavender.

 

[BsSmith]

Another thing to point out is that I like simple two color paint schemes. They make my life easier and I have gotten them to look semi-good. Fades are my favorite.

I'm going out of my comfort zone with my Talon, THREE colors! (I haven't painted 3 colors since my first mid-power rocket, and that one was a disaster)

 

[MarkII]

Another thing to point out is that I like simple two color paint schemes. They make my life easier and I have gotten them to look semi-good. Fades are my favorite.

I'm going out of my comfort zone with my Talon, THREE colors! (I haven't painted 3 colors since my first mid-power rocket, and that one was a disaster)

I generally stick to two colors as well. Three colors are the most that I will ever use, because I'm painting a rocket, not a circus calliope.

Fades on a rocket look absolutely great - I've got to start practicing so that I can eventually pull one off.

Interesting roll patterns are always a nice touch, too. They can be tricky to paint on a BT-20, though, but not impossible if you can get all the masking on straight and even without losing your mind.

A bar roll pattern, with the bars being faded - now THAT would really be something.

MarkII

 

[FatBoy]

For me I guess it all depends on the rocket, the look that I am trying to achieve, and even the color itself. One of my favorites is my Big Daddy. It is just one color - blue - but it is an irridescent blue that looks good on its own. Another favorite (on the opposite extreme) is my Big Bertha that is black with flames painted on in 4 or 5 different fluorescent colors all faded together.