So I've always read that the 11 ACR like to put mud on the M1s to break up the green, but does anyone have an idea how they did it? The photos I've seen almost make it look sprayed on due to how even the coats look and how clean the lines are. Hoping there are some tankers out there who can answer this as all my searches have pulled up nothing.

Thanks in advance.

-Seth

Hi Seth,

it was less "scientific" as it might appear ... I remember taking a closer look at some when I first encountered them on a Reforger EX in the mid 80's (if I only had my iPhone at the time )
Since it was, not until recently, unusual for the US ARMY to apply any additional camo like nets or natural items in general (except to hide), these tanks did wake my curiosity at the time ... not from a modeling point of view though.
The patterns were applied by brush but it comes down to the typ of earth used and the mixture of dirt/water.
Another reason is clearly the "artistic" input/effort by the "painters" ... the tanks I saw looked very much the same in "Style & Quality" you can be certain it was ordered on the squadron commanders level/initiative or even higher since the accompanying "Bradley's" sported the same type of camo/appearance.
The German Army regularly applied this feature .... maybe the tanks I saw were working with a German unit and the mud application also served as an ID in addition to the color markings (Blue or Red taped X'es etc.) to unify the appearance of maneuver party they belonged to.
Later during some smaller scale winter EX some M1's and Bradley's also had the chalk white wash just like the Germans used it ... but much more crude and far less "artistic" then the mud camo you are referring to.
All in all I believe it was short lived thing in few units ... not picked up on a broader scale. The units I served with never got orders or showed any initiative to disguise their vehicles in such manner.
Maybe take a look of what the German Army did then ... the US tankers then just "copied & pasted".
But if ever a proper M1/105mm comes out ... hopefully very soon ... then I'll go for the winter white wash !

Hope this helps
Cheers
Christopher

Hey Christopher,

Yeah, this helps out a ton! I was going through one of my books, and while it didn't say how they put the camo it did say why. Turns out that one of Gen Abrams' sons was commander of the 11 ACR and did the mud camo to cause confusion during the exercises. I guess the goal was to make the other team think they were German since most people already knew of the Germans sporting the camo.