Hi all,
I'm currently facing a big trouble with a brand new bottle of XF67. It doesn't look "dark" green as it should but more a yellow green. The bottle is quite recent and was still sealed when I used it last week-end.
I stirred it like I'm used to do and applied it over a green primer coat. I don't think this is a matter of dilution as I tried several rates of paint-thinner and different thinners as well (water, alcohol).
I think I can get rid of this bottle so I would like to know some equivalent refereneces in other acrylic paint brands.

PS: it is intended for a Stryker.
TIA
Olivier

well Olivier, could you post some photos of how the color looks once sprayed?
Other than that... maybe its just me but I think that tamiya did change the hue of XF-67 over the years.
I remember having fist used the Tamiya nato colors (XF-67/68/69) on an M113A3 and once the painting was done I was quite dissapointed since the green had turned out so dark, there was barely any contrast left between it and the other colors. Also the green looked way too brown and the whole paintjob didn't look like nato-camo at all...
So I had to come up with my own nato green which worked quite well back then... However one day when I wanted to mix a new nato green one of the new jars of XF-67 (I usually use two jars of XF-67 when mixing since I use nato green a lot...) I had a whole different color in one jar and the 'old' brownish color in the other.. ever since then every new jar of nato green I bought had that newer, slightly lighter and more 'greenish' color in it... So I think tamiya did change the color before... maybe they did it again to match it to 1:35 scale lighting?? I gotta add that my own concoction still is a tad lighter and also more greenish than the 'new' tamiya nato green in order to match scale lighting. I figure both shades (of course only if there is) offered by tamiya wheren't correct for 1:35 scale.. just my two cents...

Cheers, Max

I often mix my own colors as I find many of Tamiya colors to be on the darkish side and just don't scale out that well, if you know what I mean.

Joel

Hmmm, that a good one there Olivier! I just used a brand new bottle as well on my t-72m1 but I use tam thinner since it is not a pure acrylic mix...really could not explain it in depth. I,ve tried alcool and water some years ago and did get those strange reactions. Since then I`ve used their thinner and never had issues.
Hope it helps.

Philippe.

Had the same issue with NATO Brown

This Tamiya NATO colour issue has surfaced a number of times in the local IPMS club. I have often used NATO Green for about four years now and have experienced no issues with it. However, three acquaintances from the club (two doing 1/35 and one 1/72) have had these colour variations in bottles that they've bought. We all buy our paint at the same local shop and the only difference between us is that I use Tamiya thinner and they don't. On the other hand, I have noticed that my newer bottle of NATO Brown is appreciably lighter than an older bottle.

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks for your input.
Here is a picture of the disaster. I also omitted that I got a Leopard effect which is well highlighted by the picture. It's nice but unexpected



This is the first time I get such an issue with this reference.
Olivier

MM acrylic medium green, is quite close.

Oliver,
Vallejo has a NATO Green Surface Primer (612) in the correct FS 34094 color. I have used their primers as the final color coat before with no issues. The color should work for a Stryker.

HTH

John

uh, I think I got it... you said you used water to thin the paint... now the water absorber on my compressor broke and I had a similar problem with some other tamiya color a while ago.. once the compressor started to emit water into the air stream and this water then mixed into the paint, the paint got notably lighter... I've never used pure alcohol to thin tamiya paints but who knows it might just has the same effect as water... maybe try using X-20A thinner...

John, good suggestion but how do you know that the color is a good match for FS 34094 despite what it says on the bottle? I haven't tried the vallejo primer but I've got the vallejo UTF set which contains RAL 6031 (german nato green, which should be at least close to CARC 383) as well as Life Color UA303 (also FS 34094) however, exept for being green these colors have pretty much nothing in common. Both vallejo RAL 6031 and tamiya XF-64 are really dark and kind of on the olive drab side when compared to Life Color FS 34094. While that color on the other hand is a close match to Tamiya XF-22, which actually is a shade of grey.. know what I mean? So does the vallejo primer differ from Tamiya nato green?

Cheers, Max

Guys,

It just so happens that I have color patches (and 2 sets of wheels) painted with the NATO Green from Tamiya and the Vallejo NATO Green primer. What I found is that the Vallejo is a tiny bit more toward the blueish end of the spectra in comparison (I may have stated the reverse in other posts here, but I just yesterday verified which was which). Both are darker than the green I note in my post about Leclerc tan (that is, the green color on a Leclerc as posted in photos from PrimePortal, which has now morphed into questions about the green and brown tones for the French tricolor camo). The NATO green from Tamiya and Vallejo are nowhere near as light and 'green' as the PrimePortal photos demonstrate (even given the well known issue of not being able to judge exactly odors based on computer screens). Nonetheless, I know I won't be happy painting my Leclerc with the Tamiya NATO green or the Vallejo NATO Green primer. I'm still trying to figure out a mixture that will resemble the PrimePortal images. Olivier's picture of the green paint is far closer to what I'm looking for, just perhaps a touch lighter in color, and it would be spot on to what I'm seeing in the PrimePortal photos. My Tamiya NATO green is very dark compared to that photo.

Olivier, apologies if I've derailed your thread...

French "NATO camouflage" uses very different colors from US and German equivalents. While American and German colors are not identical either, they are much closer to each other than to French colors. So it is to be expected that Tamiya paint is so different from what you see on Leclerc.
Tamiya acrylic XF-67 NATO Green in a jar (at least the one I have) is a perfect match to the official full size FS34094 (Carc 383 Green) color chip I have, so it is formulated to represent the US color.

oliver,

I have used both the Tamyia and Life Color NATO Green. Both are pretty good- and look about right to me. If you have access maybe try the Life Color? I airbrushed it right out of the bottle- although I have also used their thinnner. Their MERDEC set has the Green, Brown and Black as well as the sand colors. I used the Green, Brown and Black on a Leopard 2 I did- and it came out well. FWIW.

Cheers
Bret

Thank you all for your valuable inputs. Now I have to go to my LHS to see what I can buy as a replacement and test it till I'm happy with it.

Olivier

Max,
I have not compared any swatches of the Vallejo NATO Green primer with any US green painted equipment although I guess that I could do so one of these days, while at work at Ft Sill OK... When it comes down to it, there are too many variables in play here to make an exact match. Newness of paint, exposure to the sun, amount of time in the field, cleanliness of the vehicle, etc all weight in on the actual color of the paint on a vehicle. The same issues play into the paint on a model, depending on what weathering techniques you use: filters, washes, oil paint rendering or fading, pigments and the rest of the items that we use to weather the model, will alter the color of the base paint.

I am not much of a perfectionist when it comes to the base color of the paint, so I just try to get close enough to the real color and move on with the process. I will say that my 21 years around Armor in the USA, Germany, Korea, and the Middle East, makes it hard for me to get really excited about differences in shades of paint as I have seen multiple vehicles come painted in various shades of NATO green…

FWIW,

John

Olivier

The result still looks good. factory fresh green CARC paint is dark, and will lighten up when the vehicle see's service. It also depends on how the vehicles were painted, I have seen factory fresh parts arrive and fade faster than what was broken and taken off in my tours in Afghanistan on the Leopards.

Cheers

Anthony