Hi there,

I have a bottle of Tamiya 'desert yellow' (XF59). The owner of the model store where I purchased it said its a fairly close match to the real colour used by the US military in Desert Storm and OIF. Upon inspection with a bottle of Testor ModelMaster that is supposed to match the official colour, the Tamiya looks a little dark.

Has anyone used this Tamiya colour for their modern US armour models? If so, have you noticed the colour difference and how did you correct for it?

Cheers,
Cipher

Both Polly Scale (acrylic) and Model Master (enamel) have better matches than Tamiya. Polly Scale's is US Special Tan and MOdel Master's is listed as maybe desert tan. The Tamiya color you mention way off. It can be used in a MERDC desert scheme, but won't be nearly accurate for the current colors. Floquil (laquer) has a very close match, too, that lays down very thin, but I don't remember the exact title.

Try Model Master Armor Sand.

To add to Al's post, the Model Master Us Army/Marines Desert tan is also available in acrylics. They also make a matching color for British armor, you can get away using XF-59 for British stuff in the Gulf, but he MM paint is best choice for US stuff....

HTH

Thanks for the information. I guess XF59 is going on the shelf for now. I'll have to find MM acrylics. Nothing against enamels. I'm just getting lazy cleaning up my airbrush and stuff.

Cheers,
Cipher

Sorry, Steve, Armor Sand does not have enough yellow to match the currect desert color. It's best saved for use in MERDC schemes.

I agree with Al on the sand color. However it does make an excellent weather color for all subjects and just about every color. Armor sand gives a nice "dusty" look.

I'm doing a desert M1A2 right now, and I've found that MM FS33722 "Modern Desert Sand" is a close resemblance to the current scheme. Although after seeing a few M1A1's in desert camo at Ft. Drum recently, it seems to lack some of the yellow tint; However, after weathering with dust, sand, wear marks, etc., it should look pretty realistic. I've posted a couple of photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/gunnerk19

I'm beginning to think of using the XF59 as wdecicco suggested. However, I'm thinking about overlaying the authentic colour only around the centre of the parts, leaving the edges to have the darker colour. I've seen that technique on some planes so maybe I'll try that out.

Cheers,
Cipher

It turns out I do have a bottle of PollyScale US Special Tan. I also went out got myself several bottles of the ModelMaster acrylic US Army/Marines Gulf Sand. Here's how the colouration breaks down to my eyes:

XF59 and MM acrylic are very close in tone, except XF59 is darker. PollyScale looks more like a darker flesh tone than the MM acrylic. Assuming the MM acrylic is the closest to the official colour, then XF59 would be next closest, with PollyScale being the furthest away.

Thanks for all of your input into this thread. It has helped me a great deal.

Cheers,
Cipher

Post pics when you're done so we can see how it turned out.