Distemper (paint)

Soft distemper is not abrasion resistant and may include binders such as chalk, ground pigments, and animal glue.

[1] Distemper is an early form of whitewash, also used as a medium for artistic painting, usually made from powdered chalk or lime and size (a gelatinous substance).

In distemper painting, "the carbonate of lime, or whitening employed as a basis, is less active than the pure lime of fresco ... to give adhesion to the tints and colours in distemper painting, and to make them keep their place, they are variously mixed with the size of glue (prepared commonly by dissolving about four ounces [110 g] of glue in an imperial gallon [4.5 L; 1.2 US gal] of water).

[5] In architecture, distemper paints usually consist of a glue binder with calcium carbonate as the base pigment.

Because ordinary camouflage patterns were ineffective in the heavy snow conditions on the Eastern front, aircraft, tanks, and other military vehicles were hastily brush-painted with plain white distemper during the winter of 1941–1942.