As a rule, never use black to darken reds and yellows. This tends to only make the final color muddy. Instead use brown shade to darken them. Use black to darken blues and greens. When washing white, care must be used or you may turn the color into a grey shade. Windsor & Newton make a range of inks that do a very nice job of washing. Over flesh the peat brown gives excellent results. The nut brown does well over reds and yellows. The following chart is a guide to wash and dry brush colors and the primary base color. Color Wash Dry Brush Med Red Choc. Brown Scarlet Scarlet (Lt Red) Med Red Yellow Dk Blue Black Med Blue Med Blue Dk Blue Lt Blue Lt Blue Med Blue White Yellow Lt Brown White Black ----------- Slate Grey Slate Grey Black Lt Grey Lt Grey Black White Dk Green Russian Green Med Green Med Green Russian Green Lt Green Russian Green Black Med Green Chocolate Brown Black Lt Brown Med Brown Choc. Brown Yellow Lt Brown Choc. Brown Yellow Caucasian Flesh Red Brown Lt Flesh Purple Black Lt Purple Silver Black ----------- Brass Choc. Brown ----------- White Grey/Black ----------- Back to Dispatch September 2004 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com