I thought I would add this bit since I was looking into colors for the X-Wing
https://www.therpf.com/f10/x-wings-were ... te-110132/The first X-wing (Blue 1 which became Red 2) was actually more "white" The X-wings built later were a little more grey
The main take away from that whole thread is do you want to paint the model as you see it on screen, or do you want to try to make a replica of an FX model as seen in person (these can end with noticeably different colors/shades)
according to the OP in that thread, most of them were supposedly painted with Krylon Platinum Gray Primer. A couple were done with black and then white sanded back, but that was more an exeriment and sometimes only used on some parts like the node cone
Although the Krylon Platinum Gray Primer formula was later made as darker shade so it no longer works. The closest match he found for the base color is this
Here is my take on it:
-X-Wings were generally a light gray. They film and photograph as WHITEISH, but in-person, they are definitely darker. When you look at almost any ILM model, you are looking at 25 layers of color, one atop another, with color filters applied and washes, overlays, over-sprays, weathering, dry-brushing, etc etc. The base color is hiding under 25 layers of other "stuff". Plus 30 years of "aging and yellowing".
But we have to start SOMEWHERE, right?
-The closest color I have found is Montana Gold #7000 "Diamond Gray". It is a crazy paint. It dries in like THREE minutes. But you have to develop some tricks to use it or it gets very grainy. It is unaffected by paint thinner after it sets overnight, so you can use washes and all kinds of tricks on top of it.
I have been using it on all of my 2001 models, as I am convinced they were not white either. They were all a light-gray with tons of different-shades of gray for paneling.
Some people have been using Tamiya "Insignia white". But I personally think that is too "tan-yellow-gray." Diamond gray is a bluish (cool) gray.
The funny thing is that Diamond gray looks WHITE if you look at it across the room, but if you put a white model next to it, it is clearly a lot darker. It fakes you out.
If you have a tool and aren't aware of what it can do, its dangerous. A jedi can do amazing things with a lightsaber. A roomful of chimps with lightsabers... would get messy.