Hi all,

I know I was very curious about how close the match between the relatively new Vallejo NATO Green primer and the Tamiya NATO Green XF-67 paint would turn out to be. In fact, I was kind of hoping that I might be able to get away without using more than just the primer, in place of the Tamiya color where NATO Green is a final color. For anyone interested, while the match is not off by a HUGE amount, it IS off by enough to be distinctly noticeable, if you end up putting one color next to the other. The Tamiya NATO Green is distinctly darker, overall, while the Vallejo primer color is a touch lighter, and a touch more toward the blue/gray end of the tonal range than the Tamiya color. I wonder if anyone else has made this comparison, and if your opinion matches mine. I just primed the road wheels of one of my Dragon 3535 M1A1 AIM kits, and I guess I'm going to have to put a coat of Tamiya over the primer. Not a problem, but just the tiniest bit disappointing...

I dunno, I just put a coat of the Vallejo Nato green on my Wiesel 2, and it looks spot on.

Maybe if you are doing it factory fresh it might make a difference, but I think once you get the black and grey of the NATO 3 tone on...your filters, washes, dirt and dust....you won't notice much if any difference.

Tamiya NATO Green XF-67 is according to my paint chips of Modern CARC green is spot on.

Anthony

Hey Curt !

You have just run into one of the basic problems one faces when doing the Nato-camo ... which green tone ?
With The Tamiya Nato-Green one has to keep in mind that this colour was developed for the 1/16 Leopard 2A6 RC Tamiya model, so it would be "on spot" for the German version of the Green CARC colour called "Bronzegrün".
When scaled down to 1/35 it is definitely too dark, here is a pic of a Leopard 2A6 taken recently .



Wear + Tear, light, dirt all these things taken into account make the colour lighter in the end ... unless it has to be "Factory-fresh".
Her is my interpretation of the German Green on a Büffel:



It is the Tamiya NATO Green mixed with other colours like Sand, Deck Tan, Park Green and a drop of Yellow.


Here is a pic of a M1A1 AIM in a relatively "new" coat of CARC paint:



Taken a closer look at the CIP and you will notice it has a slightly darker "newer" tone compared to the the tank itself.
Here is a pic of one of mine M1s trying to capture the above CARC Green:



It's a variation of same Tamiya colour mix as mentioned above making it more to the US tone.
I always mix a larger amount of Tamiya colours to make a basic "Factory-Fresh" Nato Green for all my NATO-camo projects. I then choose a specific pic of what tank I wish to resemble and add other tones to to make it match ..... by eye sight only.
But when you start weathering the colours start to change drastically in appearance, here are some pics of an almost finished M1:




My general advice would be to choose a "lighter" tone based on good photo ref. and it is always easier to "darken" your basic tone with "washes + filters" to get it right that the other way round.
I also prefer to mix my colours since the ones straight out of the bottle might be correct in scientific terms but they usual just don't "look" right in 1/35.
Hope this helps

Cheers
Christopher:-H

Christopher,

Just an outstanding response...thank you SO much, not only for the info but the pictures as well. Unfortunately, while I do plan on building both a sand colored and NATO camo'd M1A1 AIM, I don't have avery many pictures of the NATO liveried versions, so any images I can get are greatly appreciated. SInce I used the primer on the wheels yesterday, and they have had time to dry, I plan to put the 'color coat' of straight Tamiya NATO green over the primer, and then sit one set of painted wheels next to the primed wheels, and see what they look like together. My guess is that, as Scott had suggested, filters, washes and weathering will probably do more to make the differences between the 2 colors negligible than trying to match them by mixing. Your suggestions for 'real world' NATO Green are something I'm going to take into strong consideration when I get to painting the whole vehicle, though. I have 4 kits of the Dragon 3535, so I'll have plenty of opportunity to work on painting. I'm kind of thinking that, ultimately, I'll have 2 of each color...I just need to pick specific tanks to model for all four.

Thanks again for the help!

Christopher, by the way, the yellow strips on the sides and front of your M1A1 I presume are either reflectors or illuminated LED strips for identification of some sort? That's a question. I don't know that I've ever noted those on an AFV before, but I don't get out much!

Christopher, by the way, the yellow strips on the sides and front of your M1A1 I presume are either reflectors or illuminated LED strips for identification of some sort? That's a question. I don't know that I've ever noted those on an AFV before, but I don't get out much![/quote]

Curt you are right, they are reflector/warning strips in yellow, orange or red ... more or less mandatory for US tracked vehicles in Europe.
You might be interested getting this book on the M1:

http://wwpbooks.com/product.php?id_product=121

cheers
Christopher