Israeli Defense Force Paint Color Late '60s

After finding a couple of clues on our M37 that it may have belonged to the IDF at one point (Israeli phone token hidden in grease and Hebrew on the spare tire) my wife decided she wants to paint it as if it was still in the IDF. There are remnants of the color under the current OD paint but it's not in any condition to get a real good idea of the exact color.

My question is whether anyone here knows what the proper color for an IDF vehicle during the late sixties would be. It appears to be more towards a Khaki color than the sand US forces use. I'd like to get it as close as possible.

I'd like to know this information too. At this point I'd say your best bet would be to post this question on some plastic military model forums. Although the late Jaques Littlefield collection has an Israeli Halftrack in that color, so they might know.. There's some pictures and possibly contact info under "Tracked Vehicles" on the G503.com site. Good luck, let us know what you find out.

Thanks AZ.

I actually sent an email to the IDF to see if they can give me some history based on the VIN and an actual paint code. I'll post it if I get a response.

Of course the M725 Ambulance is blocking the view!

Research a colour called Sinai Grey. It is a greyish tan, or a tannish grey depending on how you want to describe it. Quite attractive really.

You could always put the Six-Day War marking on the hood too. It is like a white T edged in black, with the top of the T toward the front (does that make sense?).
I have an Israeli published book on that war, printed around 1970. It is mostly photos and maps, a treasure trove of material. I will look and see what I find in the way of M37's.

Regular ol' OD was also a common colour on IDF vehicles.

Cheers

Pic 1- Shows the tactical marking on the hood of half-tracks. Note the Dodge off to the left, it has it too.
Pic 2- Isherman in Sinai Grey

Thanks Rory! That gives me a good lead that I didn't have before.

The greyish/tan-tannish/grey color is there under the last coat of OD. I knew it was several shades off our Desert Tan so didn't want to go that bright.

For those that don't know the color here's a 601 from the 6 Day War in the color I'm looking for.

EDIT: Just googled it and Testor's has it in model paint. I'm thinking I can get some of that and make a sample big enough to take to Home Depot and mix a gallon or 2.

sounds like a good plan but keep us posted with pictures as to how it is coming along.

Since when does home depot have vehicle paint?

A automotive or industrial paint supply store can mix it up in a much better paint and usually by what ever quantity you want froma quart to a drum.

amaverick88 said:

sounds like a good plan but keep us posted with pictures as to how it is coming along.

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Here's the thread I have for redoing the truck. The first 6 pages was before the new color decision.

quickfarms said:

Since when does home depot have vehicle paint?

A automotive or industrial paint supply store can mix it up in a much better paint and usually by what ever quantity you want froma quart to a drum.

Click to expand...

Auto paint stores can't do flat paint (as in CARC like paint) and have difficulties with semi-gloss as well. You can get just as good a "military style" paint job with the correct house paint. Lots of vehicles in the military in the 50's were painted with brushes as well (although I still plan to spray mine).

Check out this thread:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/paint-bodywork/66973-exterior-latex-acrylic-house-paints-4.html

I used some old US sand paint I had on the shelf and this turned out OK.Big hit @ Gilbert!

Went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and they did not have it. There were several packs for "military models" but nothing in those either. I'll have to try on-line or contacting Testor's directly.

Here's a site that shows how to mix the paint from different model companies.

The amount that I've found on ours is closest to the one shown for the Yom Kippur War although the years are still listed as '61-'73.

I'm going to try and get some of the Tamiya paints and mix a sample.

IDF Modelling - Which colour for your IDF vehicle ?

Did you try that hobby shop next to Northern Tool? I've never been in that store, lost my hobby fad after The Hobby Center closed.

I don't know if paints "bleed" but it is possible that the earlier layer has just darkened from age being over the original color. I know the paint on my car has darkened in areas constantly exposed to diesel soot.

Formula

Great thread...

If you get the formula can you post it please? I have a BTR-40 IDF used that will need the same color... thanks in advance!

If you also find any info on a second brown used in a two color scheme I'd love to see pics of it too...

Good luck on your project... can't wait to see it!

Here's what I had mixed at Home Depot. I think it's about 1/2 way between the 2 colors I have on my vehicle but the closest I could get. I think it'd be difficult to tell the difference unless a vehicle with the exact color was sitting next to it.

both looks too light.
look at this one, painted with the actual color used by the IDF since the early 70s:
http://www.jeepolog.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=40172&d=1303086170

and bare in mind that the actual colors varies a lot. might be lighter or darker, might be more to the green or more to the brown...

I will try to get the accurate color definition.

this is one of the paints:
www.sigmarin.com/vault/documents/Microsoft Word - yellow.pdf

another local manufacturer is Tambur, and there are also some american manufacturers who knows this color, thanks to the fact that many HMMWVs, HEMTTs and others were factory painted to IDF definitions.

Asaf.

asafk said:

both looks too light.
look at this one, painted with the actual color used by the IDF since the early 70s:

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Thanks for the picture. That's the top layer color of mine but what I'm going for is the lighter shade from the 6 Day War. I posted this picture on the previous page but here it is again.

I made some calls, asked some friends. some were not sure, but the others all said that the color was the same as today, but the quality wasn't good so it faded really fast. an interesting point is that on the southern front, sometimes the standard paint was mixed to make it a bit lighter, but no formal lighter color.
hope that helps..

anyway, for the future, here is the "standard" IDF color spec:
L*=46.6
a*=2.0
b*=10.2


Asaf.

FYI, about 10 years ago I panted a truck desert sand color with Home Depot mixed paint. Now it's sort of pink.

quickfarms said:

Since when does home depot have vehicle paint?

A automotive or industrial paint supply store can mix it up in a much better paint and usually by what ever quantity you want froma quart to a drum.

Click to expand...