Hi guys, the title al ready stats the problem
What color to piant the Merkava
If been looking around and the only thing I find is Israeli Sand Grey but on photos Israeli armor (now a days) looks green (olive drab) so can some one help me with this problem?
P.S. how accurat(sorry) is Academy's Merkava III any way?
TIA,
Jan-Willem

From an earlier post I made: (if you do a search, you will find more as well)

As far as my paint, let me try to remember. Tamiya colors. A mix of Buff, Neutral (I think it is) Grey, a bit of Dark Yellow, and a touch of JA Green. Then it is lightened a great deal with White. Buff and Grey make up the majority of the mix, I add the other colors till it looks good to my eye. (Black mixed with White also makes a good Grey. No need to buy what you don't already have!)

50:50 Buff to Grey and then add the rest in combinations you feel are right.

But, you need to know that the base color gets changed a good deal from the weathering. I use various filters, umbers and sienna, and pastel washes to get the desired effect. This is another reason I lighten the base color with so much white, if not the washes make it look way to dark.

I'm lucky to have brought home some dirt during my various trips to the Territories where I have seen these vehicles in action firsthand. So, I use this for my weathering too!

If you guys are like me, you have seen what seems to be endless variations in the color of IDF armor. Sometimes it seems green, sometimes khaki, sometimes sand color, etc. In person I have observed that there are variations as well and I think the time of day, lighting, and other factors have a lot to do with the variations in the photos you see.

I'll be back there again this Fall, and maybe will notice even more variations.

My point is, do what looks good to you based on your references or ideas!

Steve

Testors makes an Israeli Armor sand that seems to be a pretty good color. I usually lighten mine slightly with some white.

That Israeli sand is also a handy color for all sorts of uniform colors from web gear to soviet WWII uniforms.

Thanx guys, but what I realy want to know is
-is the IDF color olive drab
-how to make it (or what color to use)
could you tell me?

Hi,

Look here , may be it could be useful :

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/moderne.garden/Vehicules%20Modernes/Merkava%20II/gkgal.htm

Try this site. It has good info on IDF colors and transitiions.

http://idfmodelling.free.fr/index.html

from what i've learned, the IDF changed it from sand to olive green.

life colour do a good colour match for sinai grey and the older yellow colour,

try here
it will give you the colour if you look through it and it's closest match in other brands

Check out the photos of the Merkava in my gallery.

See if this is the color you are after and then see my post above.

There is a lot of variation and no one right answer.

Steve

nice photo steve, but I'm looking for a more green color.
And another thing I heard that the Academy Merkava III "sucks".
Is it realy that bad?

Well, that is the Revell 1/72 kit that I built , not Academy.

I have heard there are some issues with the Academy kit, that it is a model of a prototype version, etc, but don't believe that it 'sucks'.

If you want 'more green' just add more green in the instructions that I gave above. Simple, no?

That is why I would mix my own instead of buying it out of a bottle. You can get the exact color that you want. I don't think you will find a quick fix for these vehicles!

If you are using a specific photo for reference, beware. I have been around these vehicles 'in the flesh' and depending on lighting, weathering, etc. the colors vary.

Steve

I think humbrol 92 fits well, but only on some lighting conditions, it's weird