TAMXF69 - Tamiya - Flat NATO Black Acrylic - 10mL Bottle

XF69 - Tamiya - Flat NATO Black Acrylic - 10mL Bottle

Tamiya XF-69 Flat NATO Black represents CARC (Chemical Agent Resistant Coating) Black 383, Federal Standard FS 37030 — the darkest disruptive patch colour in the NATO three-colour camouflage scheme introduced for US Army and allied armoured vehicles from 1984 onward. It is the third colour in Tamiya's dedicated NATO family alongside XF-67 NATO Green and XF-68 NATO Brown, completing the out-of-the-bottle NATO three-colour solution for Cold War and post-Cold War US Army, USMC, and NATO nation AFV subjects. FS 37030 is not a pure black — it is a very dark charcoal with a subtle grey undertone, sometimes described as a black with a slight rubber-like grey cast, distinct from pure flat black (XF-1). This slight grey-dark character is important at 1/35 scale: straight XF-1 Flat Black can read as too flat and dead on three-colour NATO scheme panels, whereas XF-69's very slight warmth more convincingly suggests the dark but not absolute black of CARC paint on an operational vehicle. XF-69 is also used as a darkening agent across multiple colour mixing formulas for other 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 Black 383 patches — CARC Black FS 37030 disruptive patches over the XF-67 NATO Green base on M1 Abrams (1st and 3rd Armored Divisions, USAREUR), M2/M3 Bradley IFV, M109 Paladin SPH, M113 APC, HMMWV, and the full range of US Army and USMC armoured vehicles in the three-colour scheme deployed to West Germany and the Korean Peninsula during the Cold War; the three-colour scheme remained in widespread use until the Gulf War (1990–91) and on some vehicles into the late 1990s
• USMC Cold War and Gulf War vehicles — CARC Black patches on USMC M60A1 Patton, LAV-25, AAV-7, and M198 howitzer subjects in the NATO three-colour scheme; XF-69 completes the three-colour family for all USMC armour modelling from the mid-1980s through the Gulf War period
• Bundeswehr NATO scheme Teerschwarz — a workable approximation for the German Bundeswehr Teerschwarz (Tar Black) RAL 9021 used in the Bundeswehr three-colour scheme on Leopard 2A4, Marder 1A3, Fuchs APC, and Gepard SPAAG; while German RAL 9021 is technically a slightly warmer near-black than FS 37030, XF-69 provides a sufficiently close match for 1/35 scale Bundeswehr armour work
• Other NATO nation armour — applied as the black component in three-colour schemes used by the Netherlands (Leopard 2, YPR-765), Belgium (Leopard 1BE, M113), Denmark (Leopard 1A5DK), and Norway (NM116 Chaffee, NM135 IFV) — all of which adopted versions of the NATO three-colour CARC scheme from the mid-1980s onward using national equivalents of FS 37030
• JSDF dark tone component — XF-69 is part of the documented JSDF green formula (XF-73:6 + XF-4:4 + XF-49:3 + XF-27:1), where a small amount of XF-69 NATO Black substitutes as the darkening agent; used for Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Type 74, Type 90, and Type 10 MBT subjects in the standard JGSDF three-colour camouflage
• General dark tone darkening agent — added in small quantities to any colour family where a slight charcoal darkening is required without the full saturation shift of XF-1 Flat Black; used to deepen NATO Green, brown, or grey tones for shadow areas and sub-scale weathering effects without introducing pure black that would look artificial at close viewing distances
• Night vision device and optics housing — the very dark near-black of thermal imaging housings, laser rangefinder pods, and electronic equipment casings on modern AFV subjects where the equipment colour is specified as flat black but benefits from the slight grey undertone of XF-69 rather than pure XF-1

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