Ok I know this question has probably been asked and answered about a zillion times so I apologize, but this is really my first step into the North African range of modelling. What Testors/Pollyscale acrylic would best represent the German desert color? I'm finishing a gun which is going to be near Tobruk.
I see that Testors has the color "Sand" but that seemed a bit light while the others seemed too dark. Would I have to mix something in between. or is there a color that would be close to what would be those used by the Germans? I'm afraid that if I go too dark a shade that by the time I'm done with my washes and other weathering that it will just be too dark.

Thanks!

If the 'sand' you mention looks a little too light/bright to you and you say that
the weathering you're thinking about might darken the chosen colour then
please also consider the effects that the sun blazing down in northern Africa
(read on the edge of the Sahara desert) and the effect of fine sand polishing
the paintwork might have on the exact colour.
Go for a "sort of greyish sand colour which is lighter and greyer than the usual
dark yellow" and you'll most likely end up with something that no-one can
say is incorrect ;-)
Xtracolor has XE809 but I couldn't find a colour patch on the 'net so that might
not help you all that much.
/ Robin

I'll play around with it a little, see what happens.

Thanks.

There wasn't one Afrika Korps color, there were four. Regulations called for a two tone cammo, but the colors were changed halfway through the campaign, so a total of four colors were authorized.
RAL 8000 Grunbraun was the base color with about one third of the vehicle painted RAL 7008 Graugrun, from March, 1941 until April, 1942.
RAL 8020 Gelbbraun was then substituted as the base color, and about one third of the vehicle was painted RAL 7027 Sandgrau until May, 1943 (older paints were to be used up, so the 1941 scheme could be seen on vehicles through the end of the North African campaign).
For the final months in Tunisia, new equipment was starting to appear in RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb, the new overall cammo color for Europe. Because of supply problems, Italian or captured Allied paints were also sometimes used.
For a list of German camouflage colors from 1908 to the present, and model paint matches, go to:
http://www.miniatures.de/int/colour-ral-farben.html

James,

In the enamel line of Testor's Model Master II (not sure if they replicate in the Acrylic line as well), they have Afrikabraun (RAL 8020) and Afrika Grunbraun (RAL 8000). The RAL 8000 is more correct for the earlier campaigns and the RAL 8020 for the later campaigns. HTH.

Check out this site for info as well :

http://www.afrikakorps.org/

Cheers,
Rick