How to Mix Custom Paint Colors for Miniatures: Ochre and Grey Blends

Quick answer

Mix custom paint colors by starting with the lighter tone, adding the darker one in small increments, and testing each ratio on a primed scrap before committing it to a model. Keep the blend thin enough to flow but opaque enough to cover, and write down the exact drops you used so you can repeat it later.

Mixing your own colors gives you a shade no bottle can match, but it only works if the process is repeatable. The trick is to treat every blend like a small recipe: measure, test, adjust, and record. That way a color you stumble onto by accident becomes one you can use across a whole squad.

This guide walks through a practical order of operations for building custom paint blends, using an ochre and a grey as the example pair. The same steps apply whether you are matching a reference photo, weathering a vehicle, or creating a muted scheme for a wargame force.

Set up before you open a bottle

Good mixing starts with a clean, stable workspace. Put down a palette you can write on, such as a wet palette with a paper sheet or a white-1-a190166d490a29fe8213b012-1816307">white-2c58a54a96968356c7438d99-1815651">white ceramic tile, and keep a primed scrap piece nearby for testing. If your test surface is bare plastic or metal, the paint will behave differently than it does on a primed model, so prime the scrap first.

Have a pipette or a clean dropper for each color, plus a small cup of thinner. Cross-contaminating droppers is the fastest way to turn a bright ochre muddy, so label or separate them before you begin. A little preparation here saves you from re-mixing a batch you cannot reproduce.

• Use a white or light grey palette so you can judge the true color, not the palette's tint.
• Keep a damp cloth handy to wipe dropper tips between colors.

Start light and add dark in small increments

Begin with the lighter color as your base, because it is much easier to darken a mix than to lighten it. Place a few drops of ochre on the palette, then add the grey one small drop at a time. Stir with a clean brush or a palette knife and check the color after every addition.

The first few drops will shift the tone quickly, then the change slows down. That is normal. Stop earlier than you think you should, because acrylic paint darkens slightly as it dries. If you overshoot, you can add more of the light color, but you will use more paint and may lose the saturation you wanted.

• Common mistake: adding a large blob of the dark color at once, which overshoots the target and wastes paint.
• Checkpoint: the wet mix should look a touch lighter than your target, not darker.

Test the blend on a primed scrap

A color that looks right on the palette can look completely different on a model. Paint a thin stripe of your mix onto the primed scrap and let it dry fully. Compare it against your reference under the same light you will use when painting, ideally a neutral daylight lamp rather than a warm desk bulb.

If the dried test is too dark, lighten the next batch with more of the base color. If it is too flat, you may need to adjust the ratio rather than the thinner. Testing on scrap costs a few minutes and saves you from stripping a finished model.

• Let the test patch dry completely before judging it; wet acrylic always reads darker.
• Keep the scrap for later so you can compare new batches against a known result.

Thin to the right consistency for your method

Once the color is right, adjust the consistency. For brush work, aim for a mix that flows off the brush without running, roughly like milk. For airbrush use, you generally need it thinner, but check your paint's own instructions first, since some acrylics are formulated to spray without added thinner.

Add thinner in small amounts and stir thoroughly rather than shaking, which can introduce bubbles. If you are working with a paint that already sprays straight from the bottle, do not dilute it out of habit. Over-thinning breaks the binder and gives you a weak, patchy finish.

• Common mistake: thinning before the color is correct, which makes it harder to judge the hue.
• Checkpoint: a thin coat should level out and leave no visible brush strokes.

Record the recipe so you can repeat it

Write down the exact number of drops of each color, the thinner ratio, and the batch size. Even a rough note like '4 drops ochre, 1 drop grey, 1 drop thinner' is enough to rebuild the mix later. Store the note with the model or in a project notebook rather than relying on memory.

If you mix a larger batch for a whole unit, keep it in a sealed dropper bottle and label it with the date and recipe. Acrylic paint keeps well when sealed, but a labeled bottle is only useful if the label is legible, so write clearly and include the ratio, not just the name.

• Photograph the palette next to the recipe card for a quick visual record.
• Mix slightly more than you need; running out mid-model forces a color match under pressure.

Your mixing sequence, step by step

1. Prepare the palette and tools: Set out a light-colored palette, a primed scrap, and a separate dropper for each color. Label them before you open any bottle. Checkpoint: no shared droppers, no bare-plastic test surface.
2. Lay down the light base: Place a few drops of your lighter color on the palette. This is your starting volume and the anchor for every ratio that follows. Mistake to avoid: starting with the dark color, which makes lightening the mix much harder.
3. Add the dark color one drop at a time: Stir after each drop and watch how quickly the hue shifts. Stop while the wet mix still looks slightly lighter than your target. Checkpoint: acrylics dry darker, so a small overshoot becomes a big one on the model.
4. Test on primed scrap and let it dry: Paint a thin stripe, wait for it to dry fully, and compare it to your reference under neutral light. If it is off, adjust the ratio rather than adding thinner.
5. Thin to your working consistency: Add thinner in small increments for brush or airbrush use, but skip dilution entirely if the paint is already formulated to spray undiluted. Mistake to avoid: over-thinning, which weakens the binder and causes patchy coverage.
6. Write down the recipe: Record drops of each color, thinner ratio, and batch size, then label any stored bottle with the date and the recipe. Next step: keep the note with the project so the whole unit matches.

Paints that work well for mixing

• YELLOW SUBMARINE: An acrylic paint formulated for airbrushing that does not need to be diluted with any other product. If you plan to spray your custom blend, starting from a paint designed to spray straight from the bottle removes one variable from your mixing process.
• LENDANIS GREY: A satin-finish acrylic paint in a 17ml bottle, valid for both brush and airbrush, formulated for a finish resistant to handling. A grey that holds up to handling is a practical darkening agent for blends used on miniatures that will be picked up and played with.
• PALE SKIN: A premium creamy acrylic paint in a 20ml bottle, valid for brush and airbrush, recommended for both novice and professional painters. A creamy, high-coverage paint is useful as a light base when you want to tint a mix without losing opacity.

Mixing your own colors is less about talent and more about a repeatable order of operations. Prepare your tools, build from light to dark, test on primed scrap, thin only after the color is right, and write the recipe down. Do that consistently and your custom blends will match across every model you paint.