painting truck camo

[so cal hunter]

Hey guy's i am in need of help; i want to paint my truck camo and need some help in finding a way to find a pattern for painting the truck any idea's ###and what type of paint. ###thank's so cal hunter

[songdog]

I painted a 1969 Saab Sonnet zebra stripped when I was in high school with a friend. ###It started as white and we taped it off and did zebra stripes over the whole thing. ###It actually looked really cool. ###Much better than the car that we bought for $100.

[so cal hunter]

Songdog; thanks for the reply regarding the paint job;but ###i was thinking more along the lines or desert camo or even the traditional green camo i think i will go over to the national guard armory and check out the paint on some of there rig's. i have painted several vehicles but not sure how to go about a camo ###pattern and make it look fairly! thank's ### ### ### ### ### ### ###so cal hunter

[THBailey]

We did our Baja Bug with three colors of duck boat paint and brushes. ###We patterned off of WWII Africa Corp photos and painted freehand. ###Of course it was primitive but the overall effect was great. ###More recently we did an aluminum canoe. ###Rather than the duckboat paint I went to an auto paint and body shop supply store. ###I asked for camo paints and they knew just what I was after. ### I was frankly amazed at the range of colors they had for camo. ###I don't recall the brand, but we got an epoxy type paint where we mixed parts and had a fairly short working time. ###Depending on the effect you are after, the paint can be left gloss or there is a flat additive which we used that really worked well. ###We have taken a lot of ducks out of that canoe. ###As for places to find pattern ideas, you might swing by the local hobby emporium and check out the combat machinery models.

[so cal hunter]

THBailey thank's for the reply; what you have done sound's great. i think i will check out the localhobby shop and see what they have to offer and maybe get some ideas from there. i went to the local army reserve to look at and take pic's ###of the equipt. but they were not to nice about it and told me to leave even though i was on CITY property and not on the base property. oh well i guess they just can't trust anyone with a camera. ### ### ### ### ### ###so cal hunter.

[docramo]

Painted my Raceco prerunner desert camo. If you are on a strict budget take a sample of the camo to home depot and they will color match the paints to your sample. Buy the oil base and paint away. Message me if you are close to Yorba Linda.

[Bald Eagle]

Hey SCH, something I learned from my son when he and his friends painted a medium sized schoolbus cammo is that there are several types of flat paint available. ###One of the guys in my son's hunting group was in charge of painting in one of the body shops in the Marine Corps. ###He said that the flat paint used on military equipment is a special texture to eliminate almost all relfection. ###He ordered their paint from a paint supplier who also provided paint to the govrenment. ###I'll try to get more info. if you want.

They did a very nice job on that bus and it looked just like (if not better) than the military. ###I remember seeing the bus parked in the woods with several other home-brew cammo painted Jeeps and pick-ups sitting around it. ###This paint is many times duller than anything out there on the shelves at Wallmart. ###It's amazing to see the difference up close.

By the way, these guys used that old bus for their hunting "camper" for several years and had a blast with it. ###They covered most of the windows on the outside with sheetmetal. ###Lots of insulation under the sheetmetal and cheap wood panneling on the interior. ###They installed Navy style, three high, bunks to sleep 6 guys and had a nice arrangement with furnace, table and chairs, refrigetator, stove, and VCR/TV. ###That bus had the biggest winch mounted on the front end that I have ever seen. ###I think they got it from a bull dozer or something. ###They evidently had to use it alot. ###I'm pretty sure the bus is still being used somewhere in northern Wisconsin now days.

[Mojave]

Bald Eagle: The non-reflective paint you mentioned is called: CARC (Chemical Agent Resistive Coating). We use it on our (military) products where I work. It's designed to easily shed chemical agents when cleaned, to not reflect infrared light, etc. It would probably be priced a little steep for a home camo job.
So Cal Hunter: There is an Army TM that shows 3 and 4 color camo patterns for various vehicles, but I'm not sure of the number. If you feel you need a guide, try posting on the Jeep Message Board at G503.com. We used to use chalk to mark up the pattern on the truck, and number the areas with color codes (1 for sand, 2 for light green, etc). We could adjust the look of the pattern before painting, and just paint right over the chalk. Krylon sells a great flat camo paint in spray cans, that match all the military FED-STD-595 colors. It's called the Krylon Camo System, and is made for collector mil vehicles, and duck boats, etc. Ace and True Value Hardware stores usually carry it.

[fpscabs]

I know of a Scout II that the guy made a stencil using desert camo as the base. ###He painted his truck in three days. ###One color a day. ###It looked just like the real thing. ###Really cool

[Hogskin]

Try this link if you are still in the planning stages. ###Some good patterns.

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Highway/3969/camo.html

Regards,
Paul