I know this has been posted many times, on what color is best for this. Opinions vary of course.

My problem is that I have had a very hard time spraying anything other than Tamiya acrylics. I don't know why. I've tried lots of different things.

So my question is, has anybody mixed a few tamiya colors to achieve good results? Perhaps a mix of buff and deck tan? Or maybe spray a base coat of desert yellow and lighten with buff?

I'm still going to buy the Vallejo 71.075 and give it a try.

The other day I mixed some AK desert sand with their recommended thinner and it didn't mix at all. When I sprayed it on the model, it separated. Almost like it was too thin.. But it didn't matter how little thinner I put in, it did the same thing.

Dustin,
I like Tamiya paints as well. For my desert sand vehicles I've been mixing 40% XF-59(Desert Yellow) to 60% XF-2(Flat White). If it still looks a little pink, I add more white and little Buff.

Other than that I like to also use Model Master Acryl US Army/MArines Gulf Sand.

Thank you Pete! I'll give that a try. If I can't manage, I'm going to pick up a few of these other colors you and Gino have talked about.

Dustin, Have you tried the Gunze Sangyo/ Mr. Hobby range? I find them almost as good (as same style) as Tamiya acrylics (ie not real acrylics, they are both supposed to be laquers that behave "like" acrylics). Better colour range than Tamiya though which is a bonus.

As for AK and AMMO paints, you need to spray in VERY THIN layers, drying between them (spraying air from your airbrush works for this). I have recently started to use them more but still prefer Tamiya and Gunze

Here's a link to Ammo's youtube channel, this particular vid explains how to use their (and AK's for that matter) paints. Helped me heaps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZHAqxSHHvc

The best Tamiya mix for moderm US armor is:

3 parts white
1 part buff
1 part desert yellow.

A special thanks to my buddy Scott Dimmick for sharing this mix with me

Andrew, thank you very much for that link. I'm going to give it a try

Jon, thank you for that info. I'll try that out too.

thanks , I had the same question !

If I may just add a suggestion, since you say you're having trouble with Ammo and AK paints.. I had given up on using Ammo and AK paints until one of the guys here suggested using Mr Color leveling thinner (or Tamiya lacquer thinner) with them... It sounded strange, but when I tried it, it worked great

You can always just give it a try.. nothing to lose. But that doesn't work with Vallejo.. why? I have no idea... but I learned long ago that if something works, don't keep trying to understand why.. just make use of it

Oh, and thank you, Jon, for that mix.. I also have been looking for that.

Hisham

Hisham, thank you sir. I will definitely give it a try. I can't give up on these paints, I have way too many of them.

No need to mix. Tamiya XF-78 Wood Deck Tan is a match right out of the bottle. Thin with around 30% Methyl Hydrate and you'll get a great spray.

Mumster has a great ref photo showing old & new tan paint. The Tamiya # I ref'd is good for new:

Graeme, I was actually looking at that color. I did some reading on it and a lot of people actually use it for modern armor. Ill test it out too.

Gino Quintilliani recommends Testors Model Master Sand, FS 33531, as the best match for modern US sand, and has been the color that all the modelers have used (to the best of my knowledge) to finish their Thunder Run vehicles. I am not a fan of Model Master paint, and love Tamiya. If there was a perfect match to the Model Master color in Tamiya paint, even a Tamiya mix, I'd be all over that. I've got to try some of these mixes suggested here, and take a hard look at Wooden Deck Tan, a Tamiya color that I don't happen to have.

Hi All,

I know this is an old thread. I've been wanting to come up with a Tamiya mix that works. I tried the mix that was suggested earlier in this thread, and while it was close, it wasn't exactly right (at least to my old eyes). So I was doing more experimenting today, trying to match, perfectly, the Model Master Acryl 4720 color, which is often cited as an ideal color for current US CARC Sand. I have come up with what I think is an absolutely perfect match, though it is a bit complex. The Tamiya acrylic mix is:

28 parts Flat White XF-2
12 parts Buff XF-57
1 part Desert Yellow XF-59
1 part Flat Yellow XF-3
1 part Medium Grey XF-20

If, like me, you would prefer to use Tamiya paint, give the above a try, and see what you think!

I'm waiting for the AK Interactive Real Colors to hit the States because one the colors that I'm going to get is CARC Tan.

If I could find a perfect CARC Sand color that didn't require mixing, that sprays better (for me) than the Model Master acryl, I'd be all over it. I've looked at a number of different manufacturers purporting to be CARC Sand, but none of them have come close. If the AK does it, I'd like that better than having to mix what turned out to be a pretty complex Tamiya mix. But I'll do the Tamiya thing on my next M1A1/A2, until something better comes along.

Hey all,

Really old thread here about CARC tan/sand for US vehicles. While I've written that I've never been a fan of the Model Master paints (Enamel or Acrylic), I've been using the Testors Model Master Sand, FS 33531 in Acrylic (4720) for all of my M1A1 tanks. I had several jars of this paint, and I found, today, that they have all, save one, gone bad. Very distressing.

However, it gave me the opportunity to do something I wanted to try some time now. And that is, to mix Tamiya XF-78 Wooden Deck Tan, with Tamiya XF-2, Flat White, in a 1:1 ratio. I am thrilled and flabbergasted to find that this mix creates a color absolutely identical to the Testors Model Master Sand, FS 33531 color. Absolutely identical!! So...no more Model Master for me, Tamiya all the way!

Also, just for fun, I compared the Wooden Deck Tan/White mix to a Tamiya Buff (XF-57) to White Mix, also 1:1, and that mixture is also very close to the MM FS 33531 4720, but with just a slightly different cast to the color. My guess is that using that mixture on a tank, without putting 2 tanks with these two different mixes side by side, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

However, again, just for fun, and since I got a few AK Real Colors for a Matilda tank that I want to paint in the Caunter Scheme, and I have the Real Color Thinner, I'm going to give the AK Real Color RC226 (which is identified as FS 33531) and see if that is as good as my Tamiya mix, as Rich had written he was going to do. Wonder if Rich ever followed up. If this color is accurate, and the Real Color sprays well, I'm fine using this, so we shall see.

One last idea for you Tamiya fans. When Don Haney did his "All 'Bout Da Bones" M1A1 back in 2014 (his build is documented here in Armorama), he did some pre-shading of many/most of the welds with a Model Master Dark Tan color (4109, I think it was). I found today, again, that the two bottles of that color that I had also went bad, but, if you're inclined to want to pre-shade with that color, using a mix of about 3:1 Wooden Deck Tan to Tamiya Flat Brown (XF-10) gives just about that same MM Dark tan color. So, enough on all this, but if anyone finds it useful, happy to have posted.