First, thank you all for the advice that has come in. I really appreciate the time taken and the inspiring photos. Here in France, the equivalent of Klear/Future is Klir which I've tended to use to create a non-matt surface for decals and as a final protective coat.
As to the Mister Kit PC10 and PC12 I have to admit that they did surprise me, even though I'm aware of the foolhardiness of dogmatic positions in relation to both actual (initial and weathered) and scale appearance. With not too many creative bones in my body, my starting position has been the published work and models of others. So, when I received the paints I went straight to the bookshelf and plucked out the Windsock Fabric Special No. 2, Bruce Robertson's 1996 work WWI British Aeroplane Colours and Markings, which also includes colour plates by Ray Rimmell. On Page 27 there are what are described as PC10 (average) actual fabric and PC12 (average) actual fabric images and these clearly inform Ray's plates. I also took out a random sample of Windsock magazines and datafiles to see what the work of others threw up.
Accepting and understanding the limitations that may effect published colour representations I was left in some doubt as to the acrylics I had bought. The PC10 seemed not too far off in my mind, though still a distance from my normal approach (because of course it is a matter of personal perception). It was the PC12 that came as the biggest surprise. Back in the mists of time, well actually 1968, I'd read the appendixes to Keith Munson's lovely little Blandford volumes on Fighters 1914-19 and Bombers 1914-19 which paid fulsome tribute to the research of Ian D. Huntley and states that PC12 was a dark reddish-brown and refers to the standard dark brown (pages 176 and 176-7 respectively in the former). This is the impression I've been left with having admired the work of various modellers. Is this view now recognised as off-beam?
Like Jamo (whose Short 184 is masterly), I sense that the Mister Kit PC12 is not quite right. Perhaps Jamo is right about the need for sympathetic coloured undercoat. As I hold the jar of PC12 before me, I would struggle to describe it as either a dark-reddish brown or to equate it to what I have read and seen in various publications. It seems distinctly greyish to me and a long way from what Jamo has been able to achieve. I wonder if the mix has been changed? The cover of the Fabric Special mentioned above shows an Armstrong Whitworth FK3 sporting partial PC10 fuselage surfaces. To my aging eyes this actually seems very close to the Mister Kit PC12.
I want to applaud Mister Kit wholeheartedly for dedicating colours to our field and they will clearly not just have plucked the colour mixes out of thin air. I so want it to be right, but probably need some reassurance.
Best wishes
Nigel
