TAMXF68 - Tamiya - Flat NATO Brown Acrylic - 10mL Bottle

TAMXF68 - Tamiya - Flat NATO Brown Acrylic - 10mL Bottle

Tamiya XF-68 Flat NATO Brown represents CARC (Chemical Agent Resistant Coating) Brown 383, Federal Standard FS 30051 — the reddish-brown disruptive patch colour in the NATO three-colour camouflage scheme introduced for US Army and allied armoured vehicles from 1984 onward. It is the second colour in Tamiya's dedicated NATO family alongside XF-67 NATO Green and XF-69 NATO Black, and the three together provide a complete out-of-the-bottle solution for post-1984 US Army, USMC, and other NATO nation vehicle camouflage. FS 30051 is a mildly warm, slightly orange-tinged reddish brown — distinctly different from the warmer and brighter WWII RAL 8017 Rotbraun, and notably less red than XF-64 Red Brown. The modelling community broadly endorses XF-68 as an accurate CARC Brown approximation for US Army subjects, though some note the Tamiya formula skews slightly toward orange on certain production batches. XF-68 also appears in the documented formula for a modified Desert Yellow (5 parts XF-68 + 4 parts XF-3 Flat Yellow + 1 part XF-69 NATO Black) for specific USAF earth-tone desert subjects.

Tamiya Acrylic paints are a hybrid acrylic formula built on water-soluble resin — they can be thinned with water, isopropyl alcohol, or lacquer thinner, and clean up easily with water before curing. When thinned with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner, the paint lays down faster, dries harder, and bonds more aggressively to the substrate. The hybrid resin chemistry means the paint film remains slightly soluble after initial drying — subsequent brush strokes can reactivate and lift the layer below if applied without restraint. For this reason, airbrushing is strongly recommended for large surface coverage. Brush painting is workable for detail and touch-up work, but requires a gentle, deliberate stroke and a fully cured base layer. See our Tamiya Acrylic vs. Enamel vs. Lacquer guide for a full breakdown of paint type differences.

• US Army NATO three-colour Brown 383 patches — CARC Brown FS 30051 disruptive patches over the XF-67 NATO Green base on M1 Abrams (1st and 3rd Armored Divisions, USAREUR, 1984–91), M2/M3 Bradley IFV (5th and 7th Infantry Divisions, 1984 onward), M109 Paladin, HMMWV, M113, and all US Army armoured vehicles in the NATO three-colour scheme deployed to West Germany and South Korea during the Cold War period
• USMC NATO scheme vehicles — CARC Brown patches on USMC M60A1 Patton, LAV-25, and AAV-7 Amtrak subjects in the three-colour scheme applied during the 1980s; USMC vehicles transitioned to the three-colour CARC scheme on roughly the same timeline as the US Army, making XF-68 the correct USMC brown for this period
• Gulf War transition subjects — US Army M1 Abrams and M2 Bradley vehicles that deployed to the Gulf in NATO three-colour before receiving desert paint or sand overpaint; some vehicles entered Desert Storm with partial NATO camouflage still visible or incompletely painted over, making XF-68 an essential colour for accurate Gulf War transition subjects alongside XF-67 and desert tan shades
• Bundeswehr Lederbraun (Leather Brown) approximation — XF-68 provides a starting point for the German Bundeswehr Lederbraun RAL 8027 used in the Bundeswehr's own three-colour scheme on Leopard 2, Marder, Fuchs, and TPz Fuchs; while the Bundeswehr brown (RAL 8027) is somewhat different from FS 30051, XF-68 with minor warming adjustments works broadly across German NATO armour subjects
• Other NATO nation armour — the NATO three-colour scheme or close variants were adopted by multiple NATO member states including the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway; XF-68 is a workable brown for all of these national applications where the US CARC formulation was adopted or approximated
• Desert Yellow modification formula — 5 parts XF-68 + 4 parts XF-3 Flat Yellow + 1 part XF-69 NATO Black produces a modified USAF earth-tone desert colour useful for Ft. Bragg and stateside training scheme vehicles where the desert yellow component has faded toward a more ochre tone under extended sun exposure
• Diorama earth tones — XF-68 used as a warm, moderately reddish brown for clay-rich soil, brick rubble, and dry earthwork groundwork in modern and Cold War era dioramas; its warm tone distinguishes it from the cooler XF-52 Flat Earth and makes it effective for the reddish clay terrain of Central European training areas

For full Tamiya paint colour references and modelling compatibility charts, visit our Tamiya Paint Colour Chart — Complete Guide for Scale Modellers.

Thin and airbrush with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner, Mr. Color Thinner, or Mr. Color Leveling Thinner.

• 10ml glass jar
• Part of the Tamiya Acrylic paint range