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NATO Green Paint


biffer

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What for? The reason I ask is that when painting a Challenger 1 I tried lots of colours for NATO IRR before setting on Tamiya XF81 RAF Dark Green as being the most accurate to my eye. 
 

I commanded Chieftains and Challengers in the Army in the ‘90s BTW so am pretty familiar with it.

 

 

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NATO Green is a generic name - each contry uses their own variant of it, so there's no real accurate shade; it depends on what you're building.

 

Tamiya's version is a good all rounder, AMMO's NATO Green is a little darker. AK's Real Color version is quite vivid, which is similar to the shade used by France. Those are the three I've got to hand, but there are plenty of other options including colours that aren't labeled as NATO Green, but work well all the same.

 

49049373167_b0a6f229c7_b.jpg

 

Andy:cat:

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Then, let me ask this question again, what might be a good paint match for French Gazelle and Puma helicopters?  I can't seem to match that color!

 

Glynn "WARDOG" Jacobs

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The subject would be 1/24-scale RAF vehicles, circa 1980s.  I'd already bought a D-I-Y rattle-can of supposed 'NATO Green', but in the cold light of day, it didn't look quite right.  As you say, Andy, there are many shades of green available out there.  Perhaps I should have posed the question as, "which green shade looks closest to that used on RAF vehicles in the '80s?"

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Hi Biffer,

 

British Army NATO Green is BS381C 285

Hataka make that shade as part of a British Army paint set, although you should be able to find it separately as well. They make it in a paint brush formualtion, as well as an airbrush ready version, and also a lacquer.

It may be available in other paint ranges too - not sure without checking. Vallejo make Bronze Green, which was the colour used prior to NATO Green, and it's probably close enough that you wouldn't really spot the difference.

 

There are also various paint companies that will mix that colour (and any other) to order, either as a paint or spray can. There's one here, but there are plenty of others.

 

Andy:cat:

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Cheers, Andy!  I'd never come across Hataka paints before (not a prolific modeller), but I'm amazed at their range.  I see they not only do a 'standard' British NATO Green, but also an IRR specific version, which is a subtly different shade.  These are exactly what I was after, so sorted now.

 

All the best!

 

(another) Andy

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I wouldn’t get too hung up on the exact colour match, as had been said many times before, method of application and thinning produced a staggering amount of tonal variations from one tin, especially for the 80s time period.

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8 hours ago, Old pro said:

That being said RAF green is not the same as Army green, all RAF vehicles around wildenrath in the 80s were distinctly a different shade and finish to Army vehicles on the same camp.

 

The official BS381C-241 chip is virtually indistinguishable from the BS381C-285 chip however, and the published colour coordinates are so incredibly close that one might wonder at the wisdom of having two colours in the standard which are so similar.

 

BS381C-241 CIELAB coordinates are L36.26 a-1.64 b6.51

BS381C-285 CIELAB coordinates are L36.29 a-1.20 b7.24

 

NATO Green is very slightly less green and a delicate touch more yellow than Dark Green. That's assuming that the supplied paint is absolutely bang on the numbers, that the applied film thickness on the real object is sufficiently thick to be completely opaque and/or that they share a common colour of primer/undercoat. 

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13 hours ago, Old pro said:

That being said RAF green is not the same as Army green, all RAF vehicles around wildenrath in the 80s were distinctly a different shade and finish to Army vehicles on the same camp.

That is not correct. they both used  the exact same   green BS numbers.  The RAF changed from  BS381C-241  to  BS381C-285 in the 1980's just the same as the Army,  it probably happened at different times in each service  which showed a difference. I  started  repaints on RAF Armament Ground equipment around 1983/4  to the Nato colour.

 

Selwyn

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12 hours ago, Selwyn said:

That is not correct. they both used  the exact same   green BS numbers.  The RAF changed from  BS381C-241  to  BS381C-285 in the 1980's just the same as the Army,  it probably happened at different times in each service  which showed a difference. I  started  repaints on RAF Armament Ground equipment around 1983/4  to the Nato colour.

 

Selwyn

Maybe but still in 87-89 there were distinct differences in army and RAF vehicles on the same camp, that said, the RAF probably had better painting services than the Army which could account for tonal differences can’t say how many times we had to use gloss paint and try to get rid of the sheen only to add it again for inspections, kerosene and oil anyone?

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I was pointed in the direction of & I’ve used tinned Humbrol enamel 30 for the green on modern Canadian armour which is apparently NATO green.

But then you get involved with fading of paint & if it’s dirty or dusty etc.

 

Good luck.

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