Mixing Paints for Camouflage

To say that an airbrush is far superior to a spray can would be like saying that a B2 bomber is better than a Cessna – it’s obvious. Airbrushes have enormous advantages over spray cans – you have better nozzles, more even coverage, larger paint quantities and thousands more colors available – and therein lies the rub.

In order to achieve the military camouflage colors you need in order to make your favorite camo patterns, you’re going to need to mix paints. The guy that buys Krylon Fusion, for example, has a host of pre-mixed colors available to him right out of the can, and that’s where the airbrush has a slight disadvantage. So here are some common military camo colors you’ll want to mix, but first off, a rule:

All Military Camouflage is Flat!

That’s right, as a rule, all military paint schemes from the beginning of time until now have been flat paints. Flat paints are non reflective and have no luster making them perfect for military camo requirements. This doesn’t mean that you can’t put a clear coat on you camo paint job, however. Do what you want, just realize true military camo is flat.

Common Military Colors

Let’s look at the common military colors you’ll want to mix, and let’s just draw from the United States Military just for ease:

Olive Drab – Sometimes mistakenly called Olive Green, Olive Drab is the granddaddy of all military colors. From M*A*S*H to Vietnam to the 1980s, almost every piece of military equipment in the US arsenal was painted OD green at some point. A classic military color.

Flat Dark Earth – People who don’t know better call this khaki or desert tan, but it really is FDE. This is a color popularized by the wars in the Middle East, where most vehicles and equipment are painted this color.

Follage Green – This is the dark green color that makes up the bulk of the Army’s ACU digital camo, and another modern, popular camo color.

Flat Black – One of the components in M81 Woodland Camouflage pattern is good ‘ol Flat Black, a very versatile, very light absorbing, and very military color.

Coyote Brown – Coyote brown is the mid tone brown you see on Marine Corps uniforms and one of the additional colors on M81 Woodland Camouflage. It’s extremely popular as a tactical color these days and many accessories come in this color.

Painting your spud cannons or anything else in a cool camo pattern is a blast, and you should be able to mix up the tactical colors above really easily. Use our camo stencils to make the perfect camo job without guesswork, simply apply the stencil and spray to make all your popular camo patterns.

Top Quality Camouflage Stencils, that you can paint with yourself quickly and easily, check out some awesome Camouflage painting Stencils below: