Colours for ground texture - samples with specific paints used?

[Charlie_]

I've started building my new set of terrain boards.

When it comes to painting and flocking, I need to choose my colours carefully!

I wonder if any of you here have any photo examples of your own ground/dirt textures and can tell me specifically which colours were used, which I can get from UK big DIY stores such as B&Q, Homebase, Wickes, etc? Ideally their own-brand range which have handy little tester pots (brands like Dulux seem to just have those annoying squeezy things for their testers, rather than genuine paint pots).

I'm planning to go shopping for some tester pots from the above-mentioned stores, and try a few different combos out, but if any of you could give me some pointers first that would be great!

I want to use just three (or possibly four max) colours for my ground texture. A darkish brown, a lighter brown for a heavy drybrush, and then a light cream/beige for a final light drybrush.

I want to lean towards a lighter, sandier coloured earth rather than a darker brown. It will of course have grass applied on top, leaving the earth colours for pathways, roads, river banks etc.

[fred]

My experience is the paint ranges change quite often due to fashion!

I’d see what they have available - see which work and grab a few - or if its own brand grab a bigger pot of the main base shade.

I picked up a large pot of a dark brown in a sale a couple of years ago - but its too dark / cold / snowy to go and look in the shed to confirm the brand and colour, sorry!

[Burgundavia]

I am planning on using a standard warm brown but then using my grout/dirt mixture overtop before I static grass. That way I'll get real dirt colour

[Silent Invader]

I use pots mixed by B&Q to match samples of

VMC Chocolate Brown (base colour)
VMC Cork Brown (drybrush)
VMC Iraqi Sand (light drybrush)

It’s the colour palette I use for my mini bases, as I like the way it sets off the figures: some might find it too sandy.

Some examples of it in use:

[Charlie_]

I use pots mixed by B&Q to match samples of

VMC Chocolate Brown (base colour)
VMC Cork Brown (drybrush)
VMC Iraqi Sand (light drybrush)

It’s the colour palette I use for my mini bases, as I like the way it sets off the figures: some might find it too sandy.

That's useful, thanks. Funnily enough I was thinking of finding something close to VMC Chocolate Brown for the base, it's a colour I use alot on minis as a base for cloth, canvas, wood, etc.

My experience is the paint ranges change quite often due to fashion!

I hope that doesn't happen! It did happen years back to me actually with my first set of boards - I used tester pots from Wilko and after a while one of the main ones I was using seemed to be discontinued.

[FifteensAway]

With modern paint mixing technology, once you find a color you like you should always be able to replicate it - even if fashion changes (which I've seen).  Here in the USA, pretty much every hardware store, large or small, can custom mix and match paint to a pretty precise color - sometimes as a little as a quart at a time.

Silent Invader - really like your 'below' grass level ground coloring.  Most of us tend to go too dark but a lot of natural ground is closer to your color.  Also, lighter works better in the artificial light we all usually play under.

[Silent Invader]

Silent Invader - really like your 'below' grass level ground coloring.  Most of us tend to go too dark but a lot of natural ground is closer to your color.  Also, lighter works better in the artificial light we all usually play under.

Thanks. It works for me!

I used to use a much darker ground cover but fellow Lafer Malemute showed me way to the light side.

[FifteensAway]

Silent Invader - not being a user of VMC, any chance you can put up some color "swatches" of your three colors so we can replicate for our own use; having to allow for computer screen variations of course?  The chocolate brown and Iraqi sand are pretty easy but cork brown could be many possible shades.

[HerbertTarkel]

Great looking earth set of colours. I too use VMC, and have used paint stores to match in large quantities. I usually use Benjamin Moore here in Canada, as I get a contractor’s discount (I paint houses for fun!).

[SteveBurt]

Really like the way you have done the village and the mill as 'overlay' pieces. Would be interesting to see some more shots of that.

[Silent Invader]

I’m mindful that this is Charlie’s thread so don’t want to hog space.

Regarding swatches….. there’s no point me doing so as they’ll be distorted by so many variables even before  camera and monitor quality are taken into consideration. Best thing to do is to search online for the Vallejo colour chart.

Really like the way you have done the village and the mill as 'overlay' pieces. Would be interesting to see some more shots of that.

The mill is in this thread 

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=137106.msg1765904#msg1765904

Back to you and your topic Charlie