Question concerning paint schemes; can it be done in all green with sand color blocks on the side skirts? Have it in all green now prior to adding NATOflage but I kinda like the all green look.
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Maybe. At the time though, most M7A3s were either sand or 3 color NATO camo.
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Not really. It’s actually a step backwards.
As for green, I’ve only seen green on one:
However, Fort Hood does seem to be in slowly repainting their vehicles in plain green. My recent visit there had all of the previously NATO painted M109A7s in all green. It’s not outside the realm of possibility. That said, all of their A4s are still three tone.
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My first from them. So far I’m very impressed.
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An option is one of the M7A3s in Europe for Operation Atlantic Resolve. Sand vehicles are repainted with a temporary green paint with sand sections left for bumper numbers and unit markings. They do not have ERA blocks installed though.
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Okay. So; in your opinion, out of all the available kits; which one is your favorite? I know none of them are 100% accurate, but which one you like to work with that gets closer to the mark?
I have built two of the Tamiya and one Meng, which is nice, but which one you’d choose first?
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For an A4 obviously you have to go with Magic Factory. But best out of the box, representing what it’s supposed to represent? Meng - hands down. The fact that I helped them has nothing to do with it. I pretty much savaged these kits in a build review a few years ago.
One example of how the kit is a regression: The barrel has no shell ejection port. Meng’s kit does,
As for Tamiya, not even close. Too many small mistakes that, while fixable, make it less than ideal.
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Yeah. I concur with you on the Tamiya kits. They’re too plain and skip a lot of details. WHen i built my Meng M2A3; I wish it had the stowage bins in the back as opposed to the big A/C units. I never saw any Bradleys using those in Iraq.
Not saying that they were not used in-country, just saying that they were not very common.
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No, they weren’t. But had you known me then I’d have sent you extra Tamiya bins gratis, as I did for some other folks. I still can if you want them.
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Yeah. I’m always grateful for the offer. 
I already have the Magic Factory 3-in-1 M-SHORAD Bradley kit in my stash, which i bought specifically to build it as a “Vanilla” M2A4 Bradley (No ERA). I am also going to see if i can get my hands on the Meng Bradley interiors, to add them to the Magic Factory build. Or maybe just buy the Meng kit and get the read bins from you… Hmmm… 
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The Meng idea is not a bad one. I still have a few of the interiors, but of course they’re for builds. That said, I have a bunch of Tamiya and Academy interiors. There’s one person here who will tell you that you can’t use them, but you can. There are a lot of useful parts in those sets. The early A3s still had ODS interiors as they were usually refitted in stages. The Tamiya interiors convert easily enough.
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Decided to go with NATOflage. Turrets and side hull blocks slightly different shades as are a few blocks on the left side. Gloss coat next, then detail painting. Thanks for looking.
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Regarding the paint- expect to see single colors going forward. You may see 2 shades of a color sides vs. tops but the 3 color NATO pattern seems to be going away. New paint properties are changing the thinking and not every concern is visual.
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True dat.
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CARC 383 is the new color with enhanced properties. If you have seen those pictures from Ft. Stewart- the tanks had 2 different shades of green. I know there is still some tinkering with how they will be applied to vehicles, but think front & sides, then top and back.
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Back when I first posted photos of the two tone Abrams here I had trouble finding photos on the net - that’s how new it was. Speculation went abounded, that was of course untrue - such as being only for a Polish order.
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Finished. Very nice kit. Good fit, nice detail, easy to work with PE, metal barrel, and reflective stickers for the optics. Kept weathering minimal, just light dusting. Doesn’t seem to show well in the photos. Thanks for looking.
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Awesome job. It came out looking great.
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Well done! The sand colored ERA sets it off nicely.
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