OliveDrab

uhhh.... brown... yeah.

Can't be that simple... or maybe I'm just that stupid... thanks

If you use Tamiya paints, use XF-69 NATO Black. If you are not using Tamiya, I would suggest looking for the equivalent of NATO Black in your chosen brand. Only a small amount will do the trick. To much will sap the life out of you O.D. Green.

It really depends whose "Olive Drab" you start with. You would think that it would be a standard colour, but every paint maker's take on it is different and it will range anywhere from a medium green to a muddy brown depending on which one you have. If you want a very brown OD straight out of the bottle, look at Vallejo Model Air 71043 OD or for slightly less brown (tending more greyish) Vallejo ModelColor 70889. Though both are produced by the same company and both labelled OD, they are quite distinctly different.

I wanted to paint a p-38 with olive drab as well...But it turns out the OD i wanted wasn't like the one by Tamiya paints.  I ended up using testors OD green and was pleased.

If you use Tamiya...you can mix 20%black, 40%brown and 40% yellow (or mix to taste) to get OD green as well.

the problem with adding black is it dulls and darkens the finish. adding the brown keeps the color richer.

I'm using Model Master enamels. I tried a color they call leather. That seems to work just fine. I'll try various lighter colors with the basic mix for weathering. Thanks for the help.

Polly Scale makes 4 or 5 different shades of OD, one of which has good brownish hue to it. All that being said, OD can be mixed from yellow and black. So adding yellow to your mix can alter it to a more brownish shade.

I believe the "straight from the bottle" color you're looking for, is Khaki Drab, XF-51.  It's a brown-green drab that works well and doesn't require any mixing.

-Fred

You might want to consider Tamiya XF-58 for a olive green if you want a greener tint. It is suppose to be close to to the pre-1943 olive drab. Post-1943 is suppose to be like XF-62 Olive Drab. XF-62 is browner!