I have seen Isreali tanks range anywhere from Desert sand, to greyish tan (khaki), and recently I saw a pic of a Merk that looks practicly brown. What is/are the appropriate colors for the Merkava? i plan to start my 1/35 Tamiya Merk this week. I have a 1/48 on my desk at work.
Really hard to define, huh…?! I had a similar problem when it came to paint my Merk Mk.III, and I eventually settled for a home-made mix of sand, green and grey though I could not give you the mix ratio at all… I’m quite pleased with it.
However, I would not fret too much about getting the ‘right’ shade, if there is a ‘right’ shade at all. Once you have put a wash on the base color, you’ve already altered the balance, and drybrushing and weathering will make things worse…
Hey! MartianGundamModeler
Well, your question has been a big question in many forums. the thing is that one Merkava will never look like the next one at the assembly line.
So, after long discussions, or fighty arguments, it has been decided that the base colors for early Merkava’s is Humbrol 72 OR Humbrol 83. To my eyes 72 is too light and 83 is too greenish, and I should know cause I’ve severall real ones. So try to get a good photo and try to work your way through mixing between the two.
Later merkava’s, 1990’s and up, are of darker shade and the closest, so far…, is Humbrol 92, as a base coat. Once again plenty of variation.
And dont forget you will probably would want to weather the tank regarding to its location of operation.
Good luck! [8D]
If you will use
Thanks guys! Well at least i’m not alone. The little 1/48 merk I have on the desk at work i used Dutch Boy Acrylic from a rattle can in almond! I know it sounds too light but once you do a wash of sable brown it came out as a “faded” desert sand color. I may try that or a shade of brown that saw on this board some where on a real merk.
Well…finally something for which I can claim ‘expert’ knowledge. Many years ago, I served in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF)…assigned to an amoured unit that was equipt with the Merkava. Tthe most accurate paint colour one can use to accurately replicate that used on the Merkava (indeed on most modern Israeli AFV military vehicles) is MODELMASTER SAC BOMBER TAN (FS 34201). Second line vehicles, such as jeeps/humvees often maintain an Olive Drab paint. But for Primary vehicles such as tanks/ APCs/SPGs the best paint scheme would be an ‘overall’ coat of FS 34201