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Starting Tamiya M1A1 Abrams with mine plow, a quick painting question.

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  • Member since
    August 2010
  • From: Beaverton, OR
Starting Tamiya M1A1 Abrams with mine plow, a quick painting question.
Posted by Ghostrider114 on Thursday, June 16, 2011 8:42 PM

I saw the Tamiya Abrams on sale at my local hobbyshop, and I had to get it because I've wanted to branch out into modern armor after my recent WWII projects.  I've been going over the instructions and I hit a snag already.  They are terrible!  The instructions are way too busy, so many diagrams and pointers that I am having trouble finding things, not to mention I've found a couple of serious typos and errors already.  The biggest problem is that it doesn't give a color call out for the all over desert tan scheme!  Does anyone here know what the official US Army desert color is?  And what the closest match with Modelmaster enamels would be?

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Thursday, June 16, 2011 8:47 PM

Testors Model Masters desert sand is a good match. It comes in both bottle and rattle spray can.

  • Member since
    August 2010
  • From: Beaverton, OR
Posted by Ghostrider114 on Thursday, June 16, 2011 9:20 PM

thanks, any other tips I should know?

  • Member since
    August 2010
  • From: Beaverton, OR
Posted by Ghostrider114 on Thursday, June 16, 2011 10:15 PM

the MM Modern Desert Sand looks very yellow on the testors website, are you sure that's the right color?

 

I just want to be sure, because I'm pretty sure they don't have it at my local hobbyshop, I'll have to order it.

  • Member since
    June 2005
  • From: Massachusetts
Posted by minimortar on Thursday, June 16, 2011 11:16 PM

Those paint chips are terrible. You are new here... Believe in what Rob says.

Thanks,
Kevin Keefe

Mortars in Miniature
A Scale Model (Plus!) Collection of the Infantryman's Artillery

  • Member since
    August 2010
  • From: Beaverton, OR
Posted by Ghostrider114 on Thursday, June 16, 2011 11:31 PM

ok, thanks

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Friday, June 17, 2011 6:28 AM

The sand colored strip on this spray can is the actual color of the paint.

  • Member since
    March 2006
  • From: Right Side of a Left State
Posted by Shellback on Friday, June 17, 2011 11:46 AM

Heres a link to the federal standard 595 sample

http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?fs=33722

  • Member since
    October 2009
Posted by Kentucky Colonel on Friday, June 17, 2011 12:00 PM

Are you going to model it after Desert Storm 1991  or OIF in 2003?

Those are two different colors

There is a M1 build in Group Builds going on.

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: San Antonio
Posted by paintsniffer on Friday, June 17, 2011 4:47 PM

The MM Sand actually looks pretty good. I used it on a pair of dragon humvees I built a while back.

MM Also makes a color called "Army and Marine Corps Sand" or something like that. I think it is a better match to the 1:1 scale versions.

Excuse me.. Is that an Uzi?

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Valrico, FL
Posted by HeavyArty on Friday, June 17, 2011 9:02 PM

Kentucky Colonel

Are you going to model it after Desert Storm 1991  or OIF in 2003?

those are two different colors

MM Also makes a color called "Army and Marine Corps Sand" or something like that. I think it is a better match to the 1:1 scale versions.

As stated above, these are not the same.   The actual FS color is CARC Middlestone.  The closest model color to it is Testors Model Master Sand, FS 33531.

For an ODS ('90-'91) vehicle, it can be painted in either Testors Model Master Sand for a vehicle painted in US Army paint shops.  Or in the Testors US Army/Marine Gulf Armor Sand.  This color was based on a local Saudi-bought paint that was used to quickly paint vehicles as they came into Saudi off of ships from Europe and the states.

For a OIF/current vehicle, the Model Master Sand is the closest color to what is on them now.

On a side note, the Tamiya M1A1 with mine plow represents an ODS ('90-'91) tank pretty well.  It is missing a lot t be a current/OIF tank.

Gino P. Quintiliani - Field Artillery - The KING of BATTLE!!!

Check out my Gallery: https://app.photobucket.com/u/HeavyArty

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

  • Member since
    August 2010
  • From: Beaverton, OR
Posted by Ghostrider114 on Friday, June 17, 2011 9:28 PM

I suppose this is another reason why I should do research on my subject before I buy it.

I hadn't decided whether this was ODS or OIF, I was just going with the desert scheme to avoid having to paint it with the more complicated 3 color NATO/US woodland scheme. 

The only thing I had really decided on doing was using 3 color desert camo on the figures instead of the 6 color desert appropriate to the ODS era, because 3 color is much easier to paint.

 

I thought about getting a TUSK upgrade for it, but that's too expensive, Maybe sometime later on.

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