Anyone have a great blend for getting that authentic look for gulf war paint? I usually use Tamiya, but am open to suggestions. I am hoping that someone can guide me in the right direction, I just need a jumping off point. Cheers.

I use Model Master SAND, 4720
I think its pretty much spot on with regard to the color, it looks just about right on my Abrams and LAV25.

Cheers.

Model Master Acryl 4812 US Army/Marines Gulf Armor Sand

http://www.testors.com/products/136906


If you use Tamiya then adding a little bit of German Grey to XF-60 Dark Yellow would get you the same coloration, as XF-60 out of the bottle is pretty close, but a bit on the bright side, so you'd need to tone it down a bit.

It depends on which Gulf War you are talking about.

For ODS (Operation Desert Shield/Storm, '90-'91) either of the two above-mentioend colors can be used. Model Master Sand (FS33531) is the closest color to CARC MiddleStone, which is the US Army applied sand color. Model Master US Army/Marines Gulf Armor Sand is based on a locally prodused color from Suadi Arabia that was used to quickly repaint vehicles as they came into theater. It was not a CARC standard paint, but a quick fix. It wore off quickly and faded badly in the desert conditions.

For current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Model Master Sand (FS33531) is the best color to use.

I'm really short on options, you think I can pull off a current conflict M1 using Tamiya Flat Flesh? It does look rather convincing to me at least when I try it on paper

No. Tamiya XF-15 Flesh is for all intents and purposes, a pale orange and does not look even remotely close.

If you're stuck with Tamiya, try a mix of 2-3 parts XF-55 Deck tan to one part XF-57 Buff

At a pinch, straight Buff on its own is almost passable but it's a little too dark, but it would be far better than XF-15 Flesh.