M1A2 CARC color help?

Guys, I know this has been debated ad naseam however I’m looking to get a carc color similar to this photo. The color I’m trying to match is very slighty pinkish as shown.

I’ve been trying with Tamiya mixes and getting close but lacking the slight pinkish hue.

Can anyone advise on this after looking at the photo.

I’ve also seen M1070’s with this pinkish hue.

Thanks for any help.

It’s a really hard color to pin down, and it does shift rapidly with weathering by the sun. Not to mention that lighting conditions also affect its appearance.

with Tamiya paints I’d mix it by eye starting with Buff and adding some Desert Yellow, or the new IJN Deck Tan. But you can skip that and go with the new AK paints real colors who make the CARC Sand in their line.

All of my mixes are missing that very subtle pinkish hue which you can see in the photo. That is what I’m trying to achieve.

I may try the AK real colors carc but almost certainly it will have to be cut with flat white. As you know very few paints look like reality out of the bottle.

I could go to model master enamel but I would rather get this with an acrylic for weathering purposes.

Thanks for the recommendations.

What you are seeing in the picture is actually a very desaturated orange hue. Buff and deck tan are desatured yellows. What you need to make it orange is a very small amount of red. (red and yellow make orange, remember). And I mean a small amount of red! Red pigments can have a very high tinting strength. Adding red will darken your base color, so you will probably need to add more white.

I would personally mix the red and white separately then mix it into your buff, that way your red is less likely to be overpowering.

Thanks hypertex, Yes I always say that red is a deadly color, takes very little.

I also saw an example where someome added a small bit of brown to Tamiya wooden deck tan and got that hue I am asking about.

I am very close with the desert tan about 25% and flat white 75% or so. I will try a small bit of red to see what I get.

Interestingly the buff plus flat white mix tended toward gray when side by side with the desert tan flat white mix.

I will report back as many people are interesting in getting this carc color authentic.

I’m wondering how it would look if you used the pinkish/orangish hue as a filter instead of adding it to the paint. If you sprayed with the regular sand maybe just put it down as a dot filter in certain places to tint the shade of the paint just a tiny bit?

Maybe a silly idea, just thinking out loud… [whstl]

I’ve had tanks in which the upper surfaces are nearly bleached a linen color and the sides look so yellow because of the difference in fading.

Yesterday I saw a build painted a 50/50 mix of Desert Yellow and Deck Tan, XF-55 and XF 59. Modulated with white to taste, it looked pretty good.

That actually might work… before any gloss or flat coats are added…

Adding a dot of red worked.

Adding just a dot of Tamiya flat red to the 75-25% flat white-desert yellow has it very close to the photo now.

I just have to try a couple of small percentage adjustments.

I’m building the Tamiya M1A2 SEP TuskII up next, which is why I’m doing this.

I also want this color formula for the HobbyBoss M1070 I have. I have seen that slightly pinkish hue on those as well and it looks good.

Out of the factory or depot overhaul, they will be painted in the same color. Just like any other Army tactical vehicle in that color. After that, Mother Nature and the elements take over.