"Vietnam Earth" Topic

Hi guys,

I am looking for a really close colour to use for painting my bases for vietnam, any suggestions?

Dan

Wouldn't it depend on where your battles will be set?

The dirt in Vietnam is as varied in color as anywhere else you'll find. Terrain in Vietnam ranges from dry, almost dusty highlands, lush coastal regions with black soil, swamps, jungle (where you almost never see dirt, just undergrowth anyway), grasslands, etc. etc.

That said, in my experience a really reddish-brown is what most people think of when they think of Vietnam, rightly or wrongly.

lateritic soils are basically so leached out by abundant tropical rains that all that is left are are insoluble oxides.
You might start with burnt sienna which gets its color from similar iron oxides/hydroxides.

Do a google earth search on the area you are interested in. I just helped a veteran find where he conducted combat operations around one region and we were able to zoom in and get some pretty good close ups of the vegetation and soil composition of the area. He is doing a model of the Vietnam memorial and wanted to add some foliage to the display.

VR
James Mattes

I remember my brother always complained about how dusty it was, or muddy if raining.

Thanks guys, I suppose to narrow it down a bit then a dusty, dry area devoid of vegetation for I plan a 10mm Fire Support Base

Dan

The soil of Vietnam varies from rich dark brown loam to burnt orange terracotta, to shockingly red verging on Martian. As Extra Crispy said, most people choose the terracotta, because it's what you think of when you picture Vietnam in your mind.

Im doing Indochina in 10mm and hitting the same problem, in the end opting for reddish brown as this is the coloour most associate with the region. After looking at photos i went for the following mix.

Base – GW SKrag brown
Mid – 50/50 mix Skrag Brown and Vallejo Dark Sand
highlight – Vallejo dark sand

Top off with scatter and tufts

Hope this helps