OK, going crazy here, so please listen up. - During the Vietnam war years we would be told to go to the Q and get some Olive Drab to repaint our vehicles.

The olive Drab we used was what I thought OD actually was, but that as I now know, it was only one of hundreds(?) of different shades.

If I was Chris Wauchope, et.al I would have no problem, but I aint.

Can anyone give me a reasonably close acrylic color to the one that covered the APCs and Centurions that Australia fielded in SVN.

The exact shade really won't matter if you are doing any form of pre-shading or weathering. Washes, filters, dust, etc will all change the basic colour anyway.

So have a look at:
AK 4021 OD Lusterless
Lifecolour UA 224 Faded OD Type 2
Gunze H303.

Thank you my man. Straight to BNA model World now and get them.

Don't get me going on "OLIVE DRAB"... In "real-life" Olive Drab is just like any other "flat/matte" military color; these colors fade and discolor very quickly. Do yourself a favor and don't "sweat it". Pick an OD that you like and fly with that...

Personally, I like TESTORS MODEL MASTER II FS34086 DRAB GREEN as a BASE COLOR for my WWII US equipment- Once you get going with pre-shading, post-shading and all of that other s**t, you will probably have a hard time trying see your original base coat, anyway... As I said above, pick an OD (?) that you like...

PS- Peter has some good suggestions...

Australian OD as used on kit sent to RVN wasn’t the same as the US No. 9 used in WW2. I can’t steer you to an acrylic match but Humbrol French Artillery Green (a Napoleonic colour) was a good match and White Ensign does one too in the Colourcoats range.

I’ve often bought accurate colours in a different format to use as a starting point for mixing/matching to my preferred medium. It’s not as though model paint is unaffordable expensive for such purposes after all.

Is there a Humbrol French Artillery Green in the 'Super Enamel' range? The 'Authentic colour' range was discontinued and F.A.G. hadn't been replaced last I heard.

For an enamel Australian Olive Drab Lusterless you really can't go anywhere but Mouse House's MAP01- Olive Drab lustreless 7560/ADE(M)-146-1/1 if you want exact shade from the outset.

http://www.mheaust.com.au/MHE/Paint/MAP1.htm

Good point Peter. I did think about that one while typing but unaccountably failed to mention it🙄

Regrettably Humbrol FAG is indeed discontinued.

Hey Neville,
Mate if you have a look at these sites below, it actually has the correct colour swatch on it for the OD, along with the correct colours for other Australian vehicles. The second site that I stumbled across, a PDF file, has alot of information about the colours to be and used and how. One thing it does state is as long as the OD is a close visual match to the standard, its good to use!

www.remlr.com/paint.html#s3od

www.apas.gov.au/PDFs/0165.pdf

If you really want to get the correct colour, then this is how it's done:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s33ScN4D-HU

Here is what little I know about colors If you choose the correct color to start with, then fade it, weather it, filter it, etc... it looks plausible to the actual color of the vehicle because the correct color, tint, shade are still discernable. Sort of like looking at a child and seeing his/her parents features.

If you paint the wrong color to start with and fade, weather, and filter it, it will be nice but you will notice it doesn't look like the actual vehicle color. Your neighbors kid does not look like you or your wife.

If you are after legit Modern Auscam, we produce the 100% correct colours as sampled from ADF liquid paint samples.

We have had people question the authenticity of it until they get a hold of some and spray it and see it for real - they change their opinion pretty fast after that!

https://www.scalemodeller.com.au/collections/colour-sets/products/auscam-modern-colour-set

Sorry to drag up an old thread but thought I might offer some info to assist.
The M113's we sent to Viet Nam were still in U.S. Olive Drab for a number of years. Similarly 1ARMD's Centurions travelled to theatre in Bronze Green initially.
Australian LOD was authorised for use sometime in 1968, which meant any vehicles arriving in country from that point forward, would obviously be in that colour. For quite some time after 1968, tracks & Cents could still be seen in country in their original colours, whilst waiting for their depot level maintenance date. An interesting photo I've seen (in the research section on Mouse House site IIRC) is one of our M113's with the T50 turret, sans track guards. Vehicle had received its AS LOD paint, however you can clearly see the U.S. OD demarcation line where the guard had been