"Cold War Tank Paint Color - M47, M48, M60?" Topic

So, looking forward to some early to mid-Cold War gaming goodness, and this issue continues to bug me, so thought I'd create a poll (or polls – others to follow for Soviets, West Germans, British, etc.) to get people's feedback on the subject.

So, what paint(s), and/or paint color(s) do you suggest for the early to mid-Cold War period (1950s – mid-1970s) for American armor in Europe, e.g. on our M47, M48, M60 tanks, and M113 APCs, etc.?

The color appears to be a very dark green, almost brownish green, in some images. Usually, it is referred to as "olive drab", and the reference number given for it is 34087. Some suggest 24087, for a more satin finish, due to the practice of rubbing the tank down with petroleum products prior to their going on parade, in order to make them look snazzy.

From images I've seen of various paint manufacturers' 34087, olive drab, that looks to be a bit too light to me, but perhaps it is due to my monitor screen, and less to the paint.

So, I'm opening the floor to suggestions, and will consider both enamels and acrylics. If the paint is available in a spray can, that is a plus in order to speed up painting of whole units at a time (though it's not a requirement).

So, I'll kick off the suggestions with Testor's Model Master 34087, olive drab paint, in either enamel, or acrylic (I think they make both).

Please feel free to provide your input, other suggestions, or vote on them, below.

I'll also suggest a new Reference Section be added to the Boards, in TMP 4.0, so that others can refer to the Cold War Paint Suggestions in the future. Responses to this question can then be added beneath that heading, for the benefit of others.

Let the commentary and suggestions, begin.

Here's the color I'm after:

Mako11: Looks likek many of those pictures were taken at the Main Gate at Ft. Carson in Colorado. is that right? I particularly like the shade of the M-60A3 (?). The green tinge shows well.

Remember that the smaller the vehicle, the darler the shade should be. Just take a look outside at cars and buildings where they fill your figners spread to the size of the model. Make a mental note (or keep in mind which paint color you would use. Then , move closer. Make note of what color you would use once to are close enough to touch the 1:1 scale item.

This fact is because the further away you are, the more white light interferes with the correct color registration on your retna. In order for the eye to distinguish that something os there, it appears darker.

Nice thing about this is that a wash of black will tone down the colors. I know many feel the opposite in order to better see the details and stowage from afar, but I prefer this "Paint-to-scale" approach. YMMV.

Tom

Hi Tom,

Sorry, I don't have a clue on where they're from, but they did all come up together, which I did the image search, so that could be.

Generally, for microarmor, since they're so small, I prefer them to be a little lighter, so you can see the detailing, though on these, I think I'd make the exception.

Also needing info for 1/144th and 1/100th vehicles too, in addition to the 1/285th stuff.

Some pics I've seen of US Armor in Europe during the period makes them look almost milk chocolate to dark chocolate brown in color, as we see in the second tank photo.

Tamiya Olive Drab. It is darker than a lot of other ODs on the market. If you want "scale effect" right out of the bottle, Testors Olive Drab should work fine IMHO.

ALL US Army equipment was painted OD from before WWII up till the introduction of MERDC in the '70s, or some of the "experimental" schemes in the early '70s.

One thing about color photos is that they can "skew" color perceptions based on lighting, film quality, skill of the photographer, etc. Also weathering can shift the color in some ways as well. But if you paint in OD, you really can't go wrong for this era.

Marines allegedly had a slightly different shade ("Marine Green") but that's an area I haven't researched much.

Damon.

Mako: Just went thru my paint collection and have some suggestions for you to check out:

For the one you want to match on the M-48= I suggest Revell aqua (Acrylic) 36145, Helloliv (Light Olive, matt). It comes in plastic cube.

If you like it lighter, try looking at Anita's 11096 Climbing Vine. IIRC, I got mine at Wally World for about 89 cents.

Tamiya XF-65 Field Grey is close but a bit darker.Hue remains "close".

Since about 1977, I MERDAC'd all my US Modern Micro Armor. Poly S put out a camo book which showed the patterns right out of the manual for several vehicle types, with their color chips. I do miss Poly-S – the original company.

The USMC was more of a forrest Green, different like Damon points out. Like Damon, I have used the dark OD during the 70s on most of my models. (Custom Cast/ heritage had an early M-60 out at the time in 15mm.)

Hope this helps.

v/r
Tom

Olive green is correct. Except in museums, I never saw a vehicle in the field that was that chocolate brown. There were different rules for camp patterns. Mix yellow and black. That is the right color.

Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate them.

Yea, back in the day, I think I used PolyS for the MERDC Summer pattern, but IIRC, isn't Poly S now out of production?

I painted up a few microarmor vehicles as test models to see if I liked the colors, back then, and they came out great, but now can't recall what colors I used. Wish I'd painted up more of them back then.

Yea, the USMC is more of a Forest, or Blue Green color.

Steve Zaloga suggests that a mixture of yellow ochre and black is the basis for Olive Drab:

link

Hmmm, thank you for all the suggestions.

I really appreciate them.

Still on the hunt for the right color. It really shouldn't be this difficult.

None seem to be anywhere near close to the four pics shown at the top of this posting. of course, who is to say they're correct, but I certainly hope they would be. They look pretty similar to some of the Cold War era pics I've seen of vehicle in Europe, back in the day (1950s – mid 1970s).

Went to the store today, and looked at various paints, again. Still didn't really find what I was looking for.

The Olive Drab site says that 34087 is a good match for the 1968 color, but I saw it in a bottle today, and it looked way too yellow. Others have mentioned it being a good match too, but I'm still a skeptic, given the above pics.

Here's what O.D. 34087 looks like on a 1/35th scale M48 (seems way too yellow, and/or tan to me, compared to photos I've seen from the period, and/or those above, parked on display):

link

I picked up a spray can of Testor's 34087 Olive Drab, on the off chance it may be a different color than the enamel bottle.

I also picked up the Olive Drab – ANA 613, but the Olive Drab website says it's too gray-green.

Don't really want to have to mix colors, if I can avoid that (since I won't be using an airbrush), but can use white, medium gray, or black primers I guess, and some washes, to try to modify the colors a bit, if necessary.

I'd really prefer a MM enamel, or acrylic color, since I may brush those on to the micro-armor, but Vallejo might work too.

Not sure I want to use craft paints on the really tiny tanks, but they might be a decent option for 15mm and larger scales. I'm worried about how thick they'll be, and covering up small detailing on the microarmor.

Craft paints are beginning to look better and better, given their wide range of colors, since I suspect I can find a decent match that way, and its cheaper to mix paints, if I must do that (really want to avoid that though, since I don't have a spray gun).

Rattle cans of the appropriate color for 1950s – 1970s would be great, to help speed up the painting process.

May have to even test out some of the camo colors, and various canned paints at Walmart, to see if I can come up with a decent match that way.

I think the O.D. ANA 613 I got might work for the US Marine vehicles, since they're more blue-green, and the bit of gray in it will make them look as if they've faded a bit in the sun, and/or from salt spray.

There's also another MM Green that looks perfect for US Marine vehicles too, so may consider that as well.

Have I mentioned that this is way too hard, and maddening?

It shouldn't have to be, I suspect.

Help me Obiwan Kenobi.

I'll have to look at the Tamiya OD.

IIRC, their paints seem to need a special thinner, since last time I used them they got a bit gummy on me, and the result was not pretty. Was kind of like painting with rubber cement and paint, mixed together.

Mike

That Steve Zaloga link is a great one: very informative and thanks for pointing it out!

John T