This post is something I've been meaning to do for awhile now. With the Vietnam (Viet Nam?) War rapidly (from my perspective) slipping back into the realm of ancient history (half the distance to the Great War) I thought I'd try to share some color info. Being an aircraft modeling guy at heart, and aircraft guys tend to be a little color fixated, I'd try and color match some uniforms from the period. These are USMC and USAF jackets/shirts from the late 1960's early 1970's (just for the record, jackets/utilities for the Marines, shirts/fatigues for the USAF/US Army). First up is a camouflage jungle utility jacket from 1969.



These colors were harder to match than I originally thought. I tried to compare them to my trusty FS-595a color standard and could only get close approximations. Part of the problem is the fact the jacket, while clean (not it's native condition) is well worn and somewhat faded. The dark green comes closest to FS34092; Model Master Euro Dark Green. The brown is pretty close to FS30099; or Model Master Raw Umber. The black is black (que-in Vietnam era song by Los Bravos); the best modeling match is Tamiya NATO black, which has a definite gray tint. The pale green was the hardest to match, up close it has a very very slight yellow tint, but not really close to any of the yellow greens I've got reference to. For an FS match FS34258 is the best of a bad lot, of my paint matches Poly S RLM 62 was the closest, it has a slight yellowish hew that doesn't match any of my other references for that color, but it might work for this. This is a shot of the camo pattern next to the standard jungle utility jacket.



A close-up of the standard jacket.



Fresh out of the box these have a definite olive drab hue similar to the normal stateside utilities.



These would fade very rapidly to the more field gray tone shown here. The best color match for this is FS34159, or Model Master SAC Bomber Green. For the standard utility/fatigue shirt or a brand new jungle utility a best guess would be; FS34097, or Model Master Field Green. All shots are taken in outside natural light, not in direct sunlight. Next is a couple of shots comparing the color of some of the normal misc. equipment carried compared to the uniform color.





Under normal field conditions all of this would be much grungier, to the point where the camo pattern would be somewhat discernable but everything would have a slightly liverish tone. The name strip over the right pocket on the camo jacket is non-standard, (the Marines don't do patches) this was something we did at the platoon level (26th Marines Regimental Scout Snipers) but nobody ladyed about it at the time. (late '69-early '70) The following link should be to a You Tube video of a compilation of stills from guys in the platoon during 1968-1969 to show what this stuff looked like at the time.

https://youtu.be/yMpRFmuC_no

Hope somebody can put this info to some good use.
DR

Hi DR,
I've been an armor and figure modeler all my life, I've done a handful of airplanes and also being in a model club that is 75% a/c modelers, I can attest to the fact that most a/c modelers are more exacting in their color selection than most armor guys.
I guess it all depends on the modeler. I've been to dozens of shows over the years, and helped judge armor and figs (and was fortunate to medal at some great shows for both figs and armor)and was never criticized for an incorrect color on my models nor have I done so to others while judging-so long as it wasn't something totally wrong of course!!
I'm sure there are some Vietnam vets on this site who can give you more exact info on the period uniforms. I spent about 27 years in the Army first, then Airforce from 1985 til 2013 and recall getting issued the OD green jungle fatigues on two occasions-both at the Army's NTC in Fort Irwin California while we were assigned as OPFOR(the Russians). We had a choice of the old OG 107s I believe or the Jungles-whatever was in the box !! The color variation was pretty broad. They ranged from nearly German field grey to a dark olive green. We wore the old BDUs as our normal duty uniforms.
I wouldn't drive myself too crazy over exact uniform colors especially since troops in the field get absolutely filthy-even in training. Pick a shade to start with and go from there. I use only Vallejos now, but started painting figures with Humbrol. They have a very wide range of colorsa and they are easy to use, although I'm still learning how to blend them!!
Just one man's opinion.....hope this helps.

Rich M.

I'm wondering if the lighter green in that ERDL pattern is a close match to the colour loam used in face camo colours. Would there be a corresponding FS match for loam in Model Master paints?

I have been a Vietnam figure modeler for over 30 years and I would not get too wrapped around the axle on an exact color match on Vietnam uniforms and equipment. The standard color for the regular jungle fatigues was OG 107, but the colors varied by lot and manufacturer. Other factors are the accumulation of sweat, dirt, grime, and fading by the sun. My suggestion would be to look for something that looks pretty close and go from there. I have several sets of both the OG107 jungle fatigues of all three patterns as well as the ERDL ones. None of them are the exact same color.

The colors I use are acrylics that are from Reaper. They are Highlands Moss, Military Green, and Black Green. I mix the first two in various ratios to replicate the variances in shades and use the black green for shading. I add Vallejo Sunny Skintone to whatever the mix is that I use for the base color for the highlights. You can check out my work in the gallery or on any of the topics I have started as well as in both of the "Vietnam: Trouble in Southeast Asia" campaigns to see how they turn out.

If you have any questions after looking at any of those, I will do my best to answer them.

Cheers,
James

When the green dominant ERDL uniforms are new, the light green color is more of a lime green. In acrylics, I use Vallejo Lime Green 70827 and adjust the brightness with other greens or yellows for fading, etc.

Here is an ERDL boonie hat that I painted using one of mine for the pattern. It is an exact match to my real one. The picture might not be all that great.



Here are a few shots of it on the figure:





















Cheers,
James

Beautifully done figure and vignette there Recon-outstanding !!



Rich M.

Thanks, Rich.

I wasn't trying to steal the thread or anything by posting the pictures, just tried to illustrate the painting of both the ERDL pattern and the OG shades.

DR did some great work figuring out the appropriate paint colors for the various uniform colors in relation to FS colors. That must have taken a pretty good amount of time. Has alot more patience than I do. I just went with what looked close to what I have in my closet and did some color mixing when I needed to.

Cheers!
James

Hey James,
No worries bro-love to see model pics here-as much as armor is my first love, it's great to see beautifully done figures on this site as figs are a close second for me !! To me armor and figures go hand in hand....

Rich

And I agree James-I would never have the patience to sort out the precise color matches !! Good on him....

Hi DR,

have a look at these sites too. This are some of the best ERDL camo paint jobs i have ever seen.

Australian SAS Vietnam by Tony Dawe

Navy Seal by Kinggeorges

Here you get an camo painting example for french indochina

French paratrooper by tony dawe

You have to work in layers from the brightest color to the darkest.
It is always lighter to paint an darker color over an brighter.

Especially the SASR bust is very good as SBS and to understand how to apply the colors.

Hope this helps

Stefan

Hey Stefan,

Those are really good examples for the colors. I am glad you posted those links to show the whole uniform rather than just a boonie hat, but that was the only figure I had that has anything ERDL on it to show getting the colors close can make it work. Both Tony and Julien are excellent painters as is evident in these links. Julien's pattern is more in scale for the figure than Tony's is though. The ERDL pattern has a series of repeating patterns that makes it unique and noticeable from regular 1980's woodland. One of the easier ways to tell if something is ERDL or woodland besides the colors is that weird squiggle of black that kind of looks like a backwards music note. You can see these in DR's pictures of his ERDL shirt (one near the bottom right pocket and another close to it on the flap opening just above where the bottom left pocket's top flap is located.) If Tony had an actual shirt to copy off of, his bust would have been 100% perfection. The way Tony painted the face looks so lifelike - the way the camo stick paint is wearing off looks exactly the way it really does. I need to try to do that one of these days.

Cheers,
James

Guys,

New to the forum and struggling to find the right color for faded OG107s. Since this thread was initially posted in 2015, any additional suggestions and/or suggested paints?

Many thanks

Jack

Welcome aboard, Jack. For fading uniforms, I have taken the easy route and started with the base color, adding white, flesh or some other equally light shade to the base mix, experimenting until I find what I like. I will also use a light color as a filter but that doesn't work as well as changing the base paint. Hope that helps.