I need some help with a desert color hummer. I am building the italeri kit with the tow launcher. From what I gather from the instructions it should be sand color but from pictures I have seen (including the one that ate the little import on this site) it looks almost black. They do tell me what should be steel, black, and rust but leave everything else open. Please let me know what the frame and general area around there should be. Thanks

If you are doing an older HMMWV that was painted sand from NATO green, the best bet is to paint everything on the underside black except for the fuel tank. It is the same opaque white plastic as the windshield washer fluid container in your car. The retaining straps are black also. Weather the exhaust pipe with some rust, remember, it won't look like a rust bucket. The fan shroud will be green (those panels on the front wheel wells under the hood) as well as the underside of the hood.

If it is a factory fresh desert tan HMMWV, then a lot of the underside is tan, but I think the black underside looks best.

My observations agree with Sabot, but I would add that the sand color on the underside of the factory painted vehicle is intentional overspray (unless they have changed things, again!). That means that a lot of the underside is still black, just not the parts that can be easily seen from the sides.

The entire frame is black, including the front bumper and the winch if it has one, on nearly every HMMWV I have ever seen. I have seen one or two HMMWVs with Euro I Green on the undersides, but I believe these were locally painted, and I don't know how far under the body the green went.

The black paint is a very flat black with a pretty rough surface (I don't know if the undersides are CARC or not). The road grime and dust tend to get into the paint pretty deeply, and no amount of washing seems to get it out. So the black 'fades' to a very dark gray color. I use Model Master Aircraft Interior Black for mine.

Thanks for the help guys. I have one more question. I am going to make it a hummer that was originaly NATO green. This just seems like it would have been the case for desert storm. the question I have is on the interior now that I have been inlightened. Would the interior also be green on this type of hummer. It seems like they wouldn't have bothered to mess with the interior on it for that conflict. Please let me know asap, I am leaving town to let some doctors play with me for a couple days and I am taking the model with me to work on. Any other pointers are always more than welcome

Drew, the interior of the HMMWV will be forest green to include the inside of the doors. For a Gulf War era HMMWV, you may even want to replicate the sand paint chipping off. It always seemed to come off in big pieces since the vehicles weren't always primed prior to painting.

Drew,
The CARC paint was sprayed just about everywhere any other paint was sprayed. The undersides weren't typically painted over. From the ones I've looked at here, they are all black, except for as Rob mentioned, the fuel cell. "Q"

Sorry this is late. I just enlisted today. I have a motor pool full of the basic models (M998)and turtlebacks ((M996)(for the MP units). All are painted in green/brown/black on top. The undersides are as above except that they have dark green on the underside of body pan, on either side of frame. I did the same research for my M997 Ambulance. I work for a medical brigade, what else would I build? :-) Hope this gets to you time.

Thanks for the continued help, and welcome to the site Ranger74!!! Now we have another person with access to a motorpool (Sabot also have a large one he presides over for your info Ranger74) I think you will like this site a lot and I would like to welcome you.

CPT DG,

Thanks for the welcome. Sabot's motorpool is probably more interesting. I believe he has vehicles with tracks. Of course the 16 Palletized Loading Systems (PLS) are cool, but take up 48 parking places

Jeff :-)

Ranger74,
I'm probably going to open up a can of worms for you, but you mentioned in the Soldiers Story Forum that you where at Ft. Benning. My cousin is stationed there on main post ( dont know what unit) and i was stationed there back in 94' when Kelly Hill was 24th INF DIV (MECH). It would be nice to see some pic of what the 3rd INF Div is sporting now a days on the hill and I no it might be immpossible, but maybe some pics of the 75th Ranger Battalion.
Welcome again SIR!!!!!!

Man Epi, you are in a real military family. You, your father, and cousin. I think thats cool, just wanted to let you know. It must be fun to get together. I only have one brother in the military (he was an engineer in the reserves) and had a second cousin who was killed in Desert Storm. I tried to get in but couldn't for medical reasons. I know this is off topic for the thread but wanted to let you know I thought it was cool how much your family serves.

Ep1.

I will at Ft. Benning for a command inspection of our Detachment 2, on 12-14 APR. I can get some pictures of 3rd BDE/3rd ID area on Kelly Hill/ The 24th ID captured equipment from DS90 is still at the main entrance with a moument to the 24th ID. The Ranger Regiment has moved to a new compound and has restricted access so that may be difficult. I have to remember to take the digital camera from work.

Jeff