Oh no! Not Olive Drab! Sorted thanks.

[Guest]

According to Jakko’s article, Tamiya XF 62 is the closest to American wartime OD......

One thing I forgot to mention there is that the article predates Tamiya’s changing the shade of their OD, and I’m not sure they changed it back later, but I don’t think they did. There was a bit of an outcry at the time, I remember that, because the pretty much spot-on colour, suddenly no longer was. However, since Zaloga also recommends lightening the exact match, I think it still works well for it on a model.

i never said it was green......i said i wanted a green

but i prostrate myself in respect of your vastly superior knowledge :rolling::rolling::rolling:

No need to be offended, I’m not saying you do everything all wrong. What I was pointing out, inspired by your comment, is that OD is not green — since a great number of people think it is some shade of military green. That’s all.

[topgazza]

I tend to use Model Air and 71.247

[Gern]

Wierderer and wierderer! Just received the OD paints I ordered from John.

Tamiya XF 62 which they call JGSDF Brown - and it is definitely Brown

VMC 70.887 which they call US Olive Drab - and it is definitely Green.

Had a look at some pictures of WWII US armour - on my 'puter so I'm not saying anything definitive - and in about a third of the colour pictures the vehicles are a definite green colour; in about a third they're definitely brown while in the other third I can't really tell.

's no wonder my poor tired old brain is confused! :upside: :upside: :upside:

[KarlW]

I used AK interactive US OD paint set, same shape and size of bottles on the shelf as Vallejo and pretty good to my eye.
VMA 71.043 is also pretty good and can be brushed. (I think VMC 70.887 is a later version of the colour.)

[Guest]

Tamiya XF 62 which they call JGSDF Brown

Huh? The name of that has always been Olive Drab, as far back as I can remember. Tamiya’s own web site also still calls it that:

https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/81762/index.htm

Ah, XF-72 is JGSDF Brown — are you sure you ordered the right paint?

Also, I found an apparently good mix for US olive drab in my notes the other day: equal amounts of Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab and XF-51 Khaki Drab — though I don’t remember where I got the from …

[Gern]

I've checked Steve Zaloga's article and he definitely says XF 62 - and you're right, like a p*****k I got XF 72:fearful::flushed::confounded::upside:

But then, his colour patch shows XF 62 as a dark Green - and it's definitely dark green in the jar.

How about if I stick to WWII German armour? At least everyone agrees about Dunkelgelb being yellow!:smiling:

[Tim Marlow]

Yes, but not what colour yellow LOL.....

[Gern]

Yes, but not what colour yellow LOL.....

At least it removes 50% of the problem! Now I only have to choose between yellow and yellow instead of between green and brown!

I think I could be on to a winner here.

[JR]

At least Marmite doesn't change it's colour !

Dave do you have to be so precise, after all colours fade and change over time, think Simon is right. I've used 4 BO Primer for top coat before now.

[Guest]

All seems a bit nit picky. This kind of thing puts me off.

Can I ask, if it’s widely accepted there there is such a broad variation in tone, whether it matters if you apply what you want?

[KarlW]

All seems a bit nit picky. This kind of thing puts me off.

Can I ask, if it’s widely accepted there there is such a broad variation in tone, whether it matters if you apply what you want?

There are 2 schools of modellers, those who must exactly match their colours to a paint chip salvaged from a scraping found on the actual battlefield, and those who go "That looks about right", neither is wrong.
(Of course there is also a broad spectrum inbetween and some outliers as well.)

[Guest]

I've checked Steve Zaloga's article and he definitely says XF 62

Like I said earlier in this thread, Tamiya changed the colour of that paint without changing the number at some point. It was spot-on when Zaloga wrote the article, but not anymore five or so years later.

you're right, like a p*****k I got XF 72:fearful::flushed::confounded::upside:

I figured, based on the name you mentioned

But then, his colour patch shows XF 62 as a dark Green

His article also mentions why you shouldn’t take printed matter as a guide

How about if I stick to WWII German armour? At least everyone agrees about Dunkelgelb being yellow!:smiling:

Yeah, that colour is not going to cause discussions at all either

[Gern]

At least Marmite doesn't change it's colour !

Dave do you have to be so precise, after all colours fade and change over time, think Simon is right. I've used 4 BO Primer for top coat before now.

I ain't paintin' anythin' with Marmite - although that would be a better use for it than actually puttin' the stuff in your mouth!

All this sounds like I'm being really picky. Honest, I'm not. I just want something reasonably close. Whatever colour I pick, there will be folks who will say it's too light/dark, or too green/brown, or too matt/shiny. I want to look at the finished article and be able to say 'That looks pretty good to me'.

[Gern]

All seems a bit nit picky. This kind of thing puts me off.

Can I ask, if it’s widely accepted there there is such a broad variation in tone, whether it matters if you apply what you want?

I just put this up on John's post Chris:

"All this sounds like I'm being really picky. Honest, I'm not. I just want something reasonably close. Whatever colour I pick, there will be folks who will say it's too light/dark, or too green/brown, or too matt/shiny. I want to look at the finished article and be able to say 'That looks pretty good to me'."

[Gern]

There are 2 schools of modellers, those who must exactly match their colours to a paint chip salvaged from a scraping found on the actual battlefield, and those who go "That looks about right", neither is wrong.
(Of course there is also a broad spectrum inbetween and some outliers as well.)

I'm definitely living in the "That looks about right" world Karl.