"Best olive drab for US vehicles?" Topic

Got some models put together at last! Just need to paint them. I'm going to use spray paint rattlecans cause I don't use an airbrush. And also too lazy to brush on a basecoat:)
I have available locally
Testors olive drab
Tamiya olive drab
Tamiya olive drab 2

Don't know why Tamiya has two different ones.
Olive drab 2 is more greenish and olive drab 1 is pretty dark.

Anybody know which color is the "most" correct?

Thanks!

IIRC according to Steve Zaloga, Tamiya Olive Drab (1) is the closest match. Might want to lighten it a bit with Dark Yellow. Personally I preferred Polly Scale's Olive Drab, which was lighter that Tamiya's by just the right amount. But Testors is no longer producing Polly Scale. Since then I use a mix of Tamiya paints for OD…

Damon.

Useful article here:

link

I mix my own, using black and ochre. Gives slight variation from batch to batch, but I reckon that is exactly how it would have been in "real life".

Ask any military vehicle owner. They will all point to their vehicle and say it is the "correct" color- and that everyone's else's vehicle is wrong. If you get to close to the shade, it's OK. the paint faded, was resprayed with different mediums, and changed slightly during the war years (and after).

It is a topic of endless debate, and pretty much everyone's right.

Thanks for replies! This zaloga article seems very informative. Exactly what I needed although it seems there is no clear answer to the question.
I'm leaning towards the testers spray as it approximates a worn faded olive drab out in the field for abit he says.

"Don't know why Tamiya has two different ones.
Olive drab 2 is more greenish and olive drab 1 is pretty dark."

I recall Testors doing similar. They have Olive Drab and Faded Olive Drab.

Showroom finish and field condition I imagine would be the reason for two shades….

I use Testors myself, it may not be exact but I can easily buy it