M81 Woodland Painting Guide

Painting Guides

Widely used camouflage

The M81 Woodland is invented by the US Military and was used since 1981. It was issued with the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) until it was replaced in the mid 2000s by the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) with the Army Combat Uniform (ACU). Usually when people think about camouflage, they have the M81 woodland in mind. Since it is one of the most common patterns, it fits perfectly in the world of 28mm modern wargaming.

Modern Special Forces like the MARSOC/Marine Raiders rocking M81 versions of Crye-Sets and even London Bridge Trading had some awesome M81 versions of their plate carriers. A lot of African regular forces wearing classic M81 Woodland. You can use this painting guide for your modern NATO SF, your African regulars or as camo for your MENA guys. The goodies and the baddies loving this – so should you.

28mm Painting Guide

First, you need some colors. We usually recommend Vallejo and Citadel colors:

  • Vallejo Model Air NATO olive
  • Vallejo Model Air black
  • Vallejo Model Air middlestone
  • Vallejo Model Air mudbrown
  • Vallejo Game Wash green
  • Vallejo Game wash umber
  1. After priming, star with NATO olive.
  2. Draw black branches, horizontal and and vertical.
  3. Use middlestone and go around the black branches.
  4. Use mudbrown and color some patches around the black branches and middlestone patches.
  5. Wash the whole M81 with the green wash.
  6. Use a little bit of umber wash to combine all colors.

Old and rusty metal

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