I received my Takom M60A1 kit today and had a few color questions- what is the best sand color for it in acrylic and were the areas behind the ERA/inside of the road wheels also painted sand or would they remain green or tricolor? I wasn't sure how thorough they painted them before shipping them to SA. Thanks

Strike the part about receiving the M60 kit- the seller sent me the wrong freaking kit.

Sucks you got the wrong kit ughh...

Most of the USMC I’ve seen were tricolor underneath and the panels green.

Since the panels are usually affixed once arriving in theater, I’d imagine it’s possible a unit could paint the underlying tank sand first. In the first gulf conflict, the the MERDC sand would be a reasonable choice.

Results may vary...

Sorry you got the wrong kit. When you do get it, here is some color info.

Most vehicles that took part in OP Desert Shield/Storm ('90-'91) were originally in NATO camo and were quickly repainted as they arrived in Saudi Arabia before they rolled out to the desert. The paint used was not an FS standard color though. Most of it was a locally bought in Saudi and was a sandy-colored paint. There were different shades and it didn't stick very well. Many of the vehicles had heavily pealed paint when they returned to Saudi ports to be shipped back to their home stations. Model Master does a color called Army/Marine Gulf Armor Sand (4812) that is a pretty good match to the color(s) used then.

http://www.primeportal.net/tanks/greg_smith/m60a1_rise_era/

Here is a set of photo's showing the installation and painting of the ERA on the M60A1 tanks that arrived in Saudi Arabia for Desert Storm. I took them As they occurred. The M60A1's arrived from MPS ships. They had the brackets welded on. We then installed the ERA and then painted the tanks. There were not enough live tiles so they installed inert training tiles so the Iraqi"s would not know. Problem was we knew it.

Thanks guys. Still waiting for the eBay seller to contact me back. In the mean time, I have Takoms new Russian tank that has three dozen turrets on it or something.