Aloha from Hawaii

I’m back building models after 25 years away and loving the camaraderie and information currently available.

I have the Ryfield Models M551A1 TTS ‘Death Stalker’ tank and after some research found photos of the real deal. The kit calls for a standard desert sand color but the photos I’ve seen are desert camo which Id like to emulate.

I am currently using Tamiya Acrylics but open to using MIG AMMO too.

Any advice on getting a good base color and then the camo colors - from my guestimation I’m seeing Nato Green, Brown and Black over a Sand base.

Love to hear your thoughts

ScaleModelMayhem

NATO Green, NATO Brown, and NATO Black was the "standard" scheme before CARC sand.

Can you post a picture of what you are talking about? There is no "Modern US Army Desert Camo" other than overall sand. It sounds like you are talking about MERDC camo, like below. If so, this is a 1970s scheme that was in use before 3-tone NATO camo.



MERDC was a system of camo with colors that could be changed depending on the environment.
Here is a good site that describes it well.

It came in a desert pattern as well.

Out of the box, the "DeathStalker" that Gino is showing can not be made out of the box because it has mounted a different search light. The track in Gino's picture is marked D-33 and on the Echelon set, it is marked D-34 and is straight desert tan.







Here is a decal set from Echelon with all the marking for "DeathStalker."

What a coincidence. I didn't even see the barrel name on it. I was just intending to show a Desert MERDC M551 Sheridan.