Lifecolor have released a handy set of six acrylic colours for painting stone surfaces. Despite the set being named “Stone Grey”, in fact the colours range through browns and tans too - and, of course, they are inter-mixable to allow an even more variety.
 
The set comprises:
UA780 - Blue Stone
UA781 - Brown Stone
UA782 - Dark Sand Stone
UA783 - Green Stone
UA784 - Reddish Stone
UA785 - Light Stone
 
The names are really only a guide - for instance, Blue Stone actually isn’t at all blue - but all the colours are very usable, and the combination will provide a good basic palette for stone and groundwork in dioramas and vignettes .
 
The paints are in 22 ml plastic screw top pots and have a creamy consistency. They work well undiluted for brush painting and you can simply clean the brush with water unless you’ve let the paint dry on it. If you have, then isopropyl alcohol will do the trick.
 
For airbrushing, I’ve tried Lifecolor’s own-brand thinners and Windsor & Newton's Acrylic Flow Improver and both give good results. Once again, so long as the paint hasn’t dried, you can clean the airbrush with water, but I still prefer isopropyl alcohol to be on the safe side.
 
For the colour tests, I brushed two coats onto plain white paper and and let the paint dry thoroughly to allow for any changes in hue. Most of the results matched the printed reference patches on the boxtop well, although Light Stone was noticeably cooler.
 
The box has multilingual English, French, Italian and German on the bottom, and the paints are also available individually if you find you’re running short of any particular colour.
 

Conclusion

Lifecolor’s “Stone Grey” set offers a good selection of colours for painting groundwork and masonry. The paints are easy and straightforward to use, with very little odour and are simple to clean up.

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