Follow up to my other post asking about modern British sand, I am looking for information on U.S. sand used in OIF and OEF. What is the correct color sand for U.S. vehicles that were in Iraq and Afghanistan?
I am planning on building quite a few different U.S. vehicles in overall sand from both theaters and have searched online but haven’t found anything definitive. I have seen at least five different colors called out from various posts. Which is the closest match for modern U.S. sand? I have the M1A1, M2/M3 Bradley, JLTV, Cougar MRAP and so on that will be in overall sand.
I have already used Model Master FS33531 but it seems a bit too pale to me. Here it is on my Tamiya M1025. This was straight from the bottle except for thinning it a little.
I also have, from left to right, SMS CARC Tan FS33446, Mig-025 FS33446 U.S. Modern Vehicles, AK122OIF & OEF U.S. Vehicles Base Color and AV 71.122U.S. Desert Armor 686. The Mig and AK look very close to the Model Master FS33531 and Mr. Color C313. The AV is way too dark. It looks more brown than sand. I have not tried the SMS yet.
While Model Master FS33531 has been my go to for many years, I am always open to new ideas.
As it might need to, taking scale effect into account. As for the exact shade, I would use any shown based just on what my cinputer screen is showing me. Except the Vallejo, which looks to dark to my eyes, at least unmixed in the bottle.
I’ve posted photos in the past of US vehicle side by side in three different shades of sand. There was even one vehicle with three different shades on sand on different components. Can’t blame gthe sun when the entire vehicle satin the sat sunlight.
Do some test. Choose what you like.
Other colors in the Tamiya range “look” right as well.
Thanks! I tried Model Master FS33531 which is shown on the Tamiya M1025 SOF above. I also tried the Mr. Color C313 FS33531, also shown above on the Academy M998 also above. I also tried the Mig-025 FS33446 U.S. Modern Vehicles, AK122 OIF & OEF U.S. Vehicles Base Color and AV 71.122 U.S. Desert Armor 686.
The AV 71.122 U.S. Desert Armor 686 was way too dark, almost brown. The AK122 OIF & OEF U.S. Vehicles Base Color was also a bit too brown but not as dark as the AV. The Mig-025 was the lightest and almost the same as the Mr. Color C313 FS33531. The only one in my stash I haven’t tried yet is the SMS CARC sand. I will have to try that one next.
I found this image at this link
The original person who posted it was John Charvat. I might go for the Vallejo 71.075 sand as that looks pretty good on my monitor.
Instead of starting a new post, I would like to ask about the Strykers in the overall green. I read they are in CARC green. Would any CARC green paint be good or is there a specific CARC green everyone uses?
I would second the two Vallejo colors because of how well they match the paint chip they’re applied to, irrespective of any possible variation in monitor display.
Thanks! Yes, I am looking to get a few bottles of that Vallejo 71.075. Vallejo calls it sand (ivory). In the link provided from where I got the image with the paint comparisons, the other person, Patrick Keenan says that chip is supposed to be FS33446 but looks more closer to FS33531. Seeing the Vallejo 71.075 matches almost perfectly, I will go with that.
I also found this image on Hobbylinc that shows the Vallejo 71.075 and it looks pretty close to me.
