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3 color NATO woodland question

04mustang

Member
349
9
18
Location
Lumberton/NC
I am planning to repaint my tan HMMWV back to the 3 color woodland pattern at some point in the near future.
I have read the TM regarding paint and camouflage markings.
I was planning to lay down a complete coat of 383 green then after it dries marking in chalk for the brown and black.
Is there a certain type of chalk that is better for this, or just generic stuff?
Is it better to paint the brown last of the black?

Thank you,
Corey
 

KansasBobcat

Member
641
8
18
Location
San Antonio, TX
I just used regular chalk and marked broken lines so there would be less chalk to remove. Actually I painted over some chalk and was not visible. I don't think it makes any difference whether you do brown or black first. I did one panel at a time: hood, fender,etc Don't worry if it not perfect, you can always go back and redo. The 3 color camo is very forgiving! You are not painting a Corvette!
 

Wildchild467

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Milford / Michigan
I didn't use chalk at all when i painted my deuce. I first painted everything 383 green. I then printed off the paint-by-numbers camo guide in the TM so i could reference the pattern. For kicks i got my colored pencils out and colored in the numbers so I could see what the truck would look like. I heard it was better to paint black and then brown. It worked fine for me, but maybe painting brown and then black would work just as well? So after painting the 383 green, I painted the 911 Black.... with my right hand on the spray gun and my other hand holding the paint-by-numbers guide and just winging it. It turned out great. i don't see a need for chalk.... it does not have to be exact, just close so it looks proportional. After I got done painting the truck, it looked weird.... like i wanted to touch it up and keep adjusting the paint pattern, like maybe i needed more black or brown here or there..... but honestly... just leave it. it grows on you and then looks right. At least for me it did. I hope this helps.
 

98G

Former SSG
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AZ/KS/MO/OK/NM/NE, varies by the day...
Do black last. That way the over spray just darkens the other colors.

Don't tape anything off. The inevitable over spray blurs the edges and blends it nicely.

Chalk it if you want, but as stated above you can just eyeball it and get very satisfying results.
 

m38inmaine

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Maine USA
When I was working in the HMMWV rebuild program at loring the paint shop always went green, brown, black in that order.
 

m16ty

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Dickson,TN
I didn't use chalk at all when i painted my deuce. I first painted everything 383 green. I then printed off the paint-by-numbers camo guide in the TM so i could reference the pattern. For kicks i got my colored pencils out and colored in the numbers so I could see what the truck would look like. I heard it was better to paint black and then brown. It worked fine for me, but maybe painting brown and then black would work just as well? So after painting the 383 green, I painted the 911 Black.... with my right hand on the spray gun and my other hand holding the paint-by-numbers guide and just winging it. It turned out great. i don't see a need for chalk.... it does not have to be exact, just close so it looks proportional. After I got done painting the truck, it looked weird.... like i wanted to touch it up and keep adjusting the paint pattern, like maybe i needed more black or brown here or there..... but honestly... just leave it. it grows on you and then looks right. At least for me it did. I hope this helps.
That's exactly how I paint camo. If you don't get out your crayons and color in the numbers, you can make a mistake really easy when painting and looking at the pattern.

The chalk deal just seems like more trouble than it's worth.
 

04mustang

Member
349
9
18
Location
Lumberton/NC
Thank you all for the responses. This has been very informative and helpful!
My next issue is that I plan to use the behr paint option using the fs codes. I'm not sure which type of the pint to go with or what gun to use?
Any suggestions?
Also, I could do pint from lowes a lot easier just because its local, the home depot would be a 45 minute drive.
Any idea of the amounts of paint of each color?
 

KansasBobcat

Member
641
8
18
Location
San Antonio, TX
That's exactly how I paint camo. If you don't get out your crayons and color in the numbers, you can make a mistake really easy when painting and looking at the pattern.

The chalk deal just seems like more trouble than it's worth.
Your idea sounds good. I guess some ofus use chalk because that is what is in the TM and we don't want the "motor sergeant" hollering at us.
 

04mustang

Member
349
9
18
Location
Lumberton/NC
So I went to lowes last night and had zero luck with any of the FS codes.
It looks like I will be going to Home Depot to get the behr paint.
Though I did get a new paint rig at lowes, the flexio 690. I'll let everyone know how it works out. And they did have a brown and green and black color samples that looked very very close to the 383 colors. Ill probably have some mixed as a sample and test that out after I get the behr to compare the 2.
 

04mustang

Member
349
9
18
Location
Lumberton/NC
No. It has 2 different nozzle attachements though for different levels of detail work.
It's the flexio 690 by Wagner. It has a 1.5 qt cup under the nozzle and the turbine is separate, which takes a lot of the weight Out of the gun.
 

rhurey

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Bothell, WA
What he said.

I don't think there are any HVLP guns that attach directly to a bulk container. It's amazing how little paint gets used though.
 

04mustang

Member
349
9
18
Location
Lumberton/NC
So, just in case anyone is curious, 1 gallon of green 383 in behr will not cover all of the areas required for a color change on a hmmwv. i.e. wheel wells, interior, and exterior.
so.......i'll resume painting today after another run to home depot.
 
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