Greeting all,
I am looking for a paint pattern for an M-1 Abrams with a winter cam pattern. Have been unable to locate one on google or janes. I don't know even know if a pattern exists.
Thanks for any and all help

I've been in for 14 years on the M1 series tanks, and have never seen or heard of a winter paint pattern. I guess if it was me, I'd find a few gallons and have at it.

They did use one when the original M1 Abrams was going through the arctic trials in Alaska. Some of the test vehicles up there still carry a type of winter camouflage. If you ever see the History Channel's Modern Marvels, there is a piece where the M1A1s up there are skidding along the ice and snow and I believe they have some type of winter camouflage. These are not operational unit tanks though.

The episode is about the high tech cold weather testing facility and not the tanks, good footage though.

Originally, when the Army planned on using the 4-color MERDC scheme, a winter scheme would be used by replacing the brown color with white. The pattern was scrapped when the Army went to the NATO 3-color schemes.

I have seen them somewhere, just trying to remember where, where M1's had a winter white wash camouflage, in Europe. I know some were in Hunnicutt's Abrams book, in the in use section, but there were also some old photos on the web. Most times, it was a simple white wash, almost similar to a WW2 whitewash, placed on there by the crews, rather than an actual paint scheme, or job. When I find them, I will post the links.

On page 90 of Great Scale Modeling 2003, there is a winterized Tamiya M1 Abrams.

Thanks for the replies. I'm still waiting for the magazine shop to order in Great Scale Modeling 2003. Hopefully soon.

when i was in germany in the mid 80's they did use white wash for winter camo,at least the tankers in our brigade (1/69th armor) it was really ugly looking but worked well as camo.
i don't have any pictures of it tho.

Looks like the white wash has been muddied/weathered quite much.

Ouch. Frustrating note with those pictures are, that was what my tank in Korea looked like in the field, with no extra help. The dirt/dust/mud/water combined to REALLY mute out the camouflage schemes. Also something that popped up was on some of our tanks that were Desert Storm veterans, the tan paint underneath showed when we scraped them, one tank looking almost like the top picture. Weathering one to look like it was in the field was a very frustating attempt in my growth as a modeler, but at times, with the photos we took, we could almost have called our tanks gray.

thanks for the picture and the info. I did not expect to see a wash. I thought there might have been a three color scheme like on the urban combats.

Those tanks do not have a whitewash on them. That's just how the tanks look after manuevering in the field. Mud dries real light. It's one of the reasons why I never thought camo paint did much good. Your tank could be pink, but after a few days in the field, it would become the color of the terrain.

I did 3 years in Germany to include to major maneuvers on the German countryside during the winter months with snow and ice on the ground. Never saw a US vehicle with any type of winter camouflage on it.

My old man did the same Sabot and he took alot of photos and not once have I seen armor in a winter whitewash like these guys are talking about.The ones in the photos are just plain 'ol camo and after being in the field after so many days they just blend in with the countryside.Works alot better in my opinon.

Over painting the NATO 3-color paint is not allowed. The paint is a special type called CARC, for Chemical Agent Resistant Coating. It resists penetration by chemical agents so it can be washed clean with water, instead of with solvents that had a tendency to strip the paint along with the contaminant. It also has better resistance to the decon solvents if they are used.

The CARC paints are pretty nasty to work with, and require a bunch of environmental and occupational safety measures when they are used. Because of this, they can only be used in approved paint shops (this requirement goes out the window in emergencies like the 1st Gulf War, where they painted in the open).

The paints are also hideously expensive.

These factors, combined with the previous observations about what happens to the colors in the field, means that NATO 3-color camo is virtually never overpainted.

Usually, any camo pattern you see on a NATO-painted vehicle is smeared on with mud. Curiously, although the CARC paint resists chemical agents, the ultra flat finish tends to retain a trace of whatever mud or dust gets on it. This means that even after washing, the paint looks faded or lighter colored than the fresh paint. Without detergents, this is almost impossible to clean off, and doesn't wash off completely well even with detergent.

The camo on the M1s at FT Wainright that they used to test cold weather conditions on were Painted white black and olive drab. If you can find a copy of tamiyas old m1 tank instructions the pattern is on there. The time I spent in Germany we never camoflaged our tanks in the winter. The german army did though. They used alot of whitewash on their vehicles

Hi,

i have seen a Black and white photo of an M1 Abrams with winter Camo during REFORGER maneuvers in Germany in Ospreys New Vanguard book (M1 Abrams).
The tank was painted in FS 34079 with white chalk bands painted on, like the black colour of the 3 tone FTA.

armyarne

http://community.webshots.com/user/rtwpsom2

Check out the M1 in my "interesting" folder

Man, that's an ancient M1, not even an "IP".

http://community.webshots.com/user/rtwpsom2

Found another M1 from reforger / winter camo, it's under "interesting"

Rob