# Color Scheme



## bugoutbob

My BOB needs a paint job. It's an 89 Chev 1 Ton crew cab with a 14 foot camper. I know, there are some out there who will tell me why this is a horrible choice and why I should be using a (whatever) but not withstanding that, I have a question. What color(s) ... I want something that will keep it discrete, even if I have to park it in the woods, but not a full camo job (around here that cries out for attention). What have you done with yours? Pics would be good.

Going for that discrete, invisible, hard to remember look.


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## Reblazed

Why would you want to paint it ? the more decrepit it looks the less likely people will think it has any value. I would put the $$$ in the engine, tires and extra parts.


just my opinion

.


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## hiwall

One thought would be just buy a gallon of cheap flat latex house paint in drab olive green and a couple of brushes. Wait to paint it until you think you need to. It should only take an hour or less.


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## TheLazyL

Reblazed said:


> Why would you want to paint it ? ...
> .


Well if it is cherry red....


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## Sentry18

A flat tan or green might be a good choice. The problem is that depending on the time of year what will stand out changes. OD green is out of place in winter and medium tan is out of place in the spring. Hence people choosing camo. So if it were me I would go with an innocuous color like flat grey and then buy some camo netting.


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## k0xxx

I've always been partial to flat tan also or perhaps a flat brown. Of course, I'm currently driving a huge bright red suburban...

I forgot to say that my son wants to Rhinoline the vehicle. I may look into that.


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## Reblazed

TheLazyL said:


> Well if it is cherry red....


Ahhh ... so true. I was picturing one that had oxidized paint and primer that needed painting. LOL.

.


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## bugoutbob

Why repaint ... because it does in fact have oxidized paint and primer that needs to be repainted for regular maintenance purposes. I'm kind of liking the ideaa of throwing a cammo net over it if need be, but still will neeed paint.


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## NaeKid

One of the most "invisible colors" on vehicles is a light-grey or a flat-grey (primer tones) then you will find that people driving will be more likely to drive into you because they wouldn't see you. Don't do the flat-black or military-colors as most people are tuned-in to those shades.

If you really want to spruce it up, maybe paint it several lighter colors, grey protective rocker-guard along the bottom 12" between the front-and-rear bumpers and up-around the wheel-wells and then another shade of light-grey for the upper-half (hood, cab, doors) and then spray-line the inside of the box with a light shade of truck-bed-liner.


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## Tirediron

For everyday invisibility, I think flat grey as others have mentioned. and as to you choice of chassis it is one of the most proven reliable and has parts in common with GM trucks for almost 2 decades. Another quick simple invisibility trick is to unplug the brake light, tail/clearance light & signal fuses and build a switched jumper, with the correct amp fuse in line of course. mount the switches some where that they are easy to reach and instant black out, it would suck to be seen because you touched the brakes at night.


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## OldCootHillbilly

Depends, we talkin hidin out in the woods? Chocolate brown ain't bad in the sticks, then cover with a camo net. Inthe burbs, I'd go tan er gray. Grasslands, gonna depend on the season. Light tan ta a darker tan would work.

Remember, camo net an brush will make it harder ta see.


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## Turtle

Tirediron said:


> .... Another quick simple invisibility trick is to unplug the brake light, tail/clearance light & signal fuses and build a switched jumper, with the correct amp fuse in line of course. mount the switches some where that they are easy to reach and instant black out, it would suck to be seen because you touched the brakes at night.


This is an old moonshine runner trick; they would cut the lights so that they were harder to see at night and tougher to follow on the back roads.


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## Turtle

NaeKid said:


> One of the most "invisible colors" on vehicles is a light-grey or a flat-grey (primer tones) then you will find that people driving will be more likely to drive into you because they wouldn't see you. Don't do the flat-black or military-colors as most people are tuned-in to those shades.
> 
> If you really want to spruce it up, maybe paint it several lighter colors, grey protective rocker-guard along the bottom 12" between the front-and-rear bumpers and up-around the wheel-wells and then another shade of light-grey for the upper-half (hood, cab, doors) and then spray-line the inside of the box with a light shade of truck-bed-liner.


How about if one were to combine this idea with the concept of "camouflaging" by making the truck appear less desirable?

My concept is to create a poor-man's "digital camo". With primer. On a large scale.

Ever repair a quarter panel or wheel well or door corner or tailgate corner or... Well, you get the point. There are lots of places, especially on older trucks, that frequently rust and get patched. The truck then winds up with many patches of primer all over it's body.

What if you were to paint the truck a subdued, flat color all over (dark grey, brown, etcetera) and them tape off and primer areas which frequently get patched with a different shade or color? If the "patches" were of a suitably irregular size and placement, the slight difference would help to break up the lines of the shape while also making it look like a rust-bucket in the middle of a restoration. Bam! Visual deterrence and camouflage, all in one!


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## TheLazyL

> .... Another quick simple invisibility trick is to unplug the brake light, tail/clearance light & signal fuses and build a switched jumper, with the correct amp fuse in line of course. mount the switches some where that they are easy to reach and instant black out, it would suck to be seen because you touched the brakes at night.


Don't forget the dome light! Be shame to break contact only to light up when you open the door.


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## bugoutbob

Looks like I'll be doing some electrical (the lights) and purchasing a camo net AND painting. Prepping is like doing home renovations ... every time I get something started I find there are ten more things to do. Ah, well ... I will never be as prepped as I like, but every small step beats standing still with no preps.


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## k0xxx

Tirediron said:


> For everyday invisibility, I think flat grey as others have mentioned. and as to you choice of chassis it is one of the most proven reliable and has parts in common with GM trucks for almost 2 decades. Another quick simple invisibility trick is to unplug the brake light, tail/clearance light & signal fuses and build a switched jumper, with the correct amp fuse in line of course. mount the switches some where that they are easy to reach and instant black out, it would suck to be seen because you touched the brakes at night.


Yep. I have a lighted switch for that. Flip the switch, no more brake lights and the light on the switch goes out (lighted switch so I don't forget to turn them back on). As for the dome light, I removed the lamp and use the map lights if I need to see something.


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## NaeKid

bugoutbob said:


> My BOB needs a paint job. It's an 89 Chev 1 Ton crew cab with a 14 foot camper. I know, there are some out there who will tell me why this is a horrible choice and why I should be using a (whatever) but not withstanding that, I have a question. What color(s) ... I want something that will keep it discrete, even if I have to park it in the woods, but not a full camo job (around here that cries out for attention). What have you done with yours? Pics would be good.
> 
> Going for that discrete, invisible, hard to remember look.


Something I never asked - but - what does the rig look like now? We might have some fun with som PlastiDip ...


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## bugoutbob

Pics as requested ... not the best and I've photoshopped some detail out on background but you can get a rough idea


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## bugoutbob

NaeKid said:


> Something I never asked - but - what does the rig look like now? We might have some fun with som PlastiDip ...
> 
> Had never encountered the plastidip in that form before. Looks interesting


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## NaeKid

That looks like a great candidate for a small update in urban-camo. I know your general neighborhood and standard camo would really stick out like a very sore thumb.

I think that I would stay with my original thoughts, but, add onto it doing something about the aluminum side-steps ... some subdued tubes would be great and I can imagine a colour-scheme that could flow through to the camper on the back .. 

Kind of like the picture below, but, with more subdued colours ...


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## Tweto

I would paint it in neutral colors. I would be trying to hide in with other cars, not in the bush. For the bush carry camo netting and camo spray paint (you can get this at Walmart). The whole vehicle can be painted with less then 10 cans. 

I have a GMC Sonoma painted brown and a Bronco painted green. Both hide in the woods fairly well. I also have a Blazer that silver that hides well in a parking lot or highway.

As far as internal lighting, my Bronco has none. the Blazer and the Sonoma both have a button on the dash that turns all internal lighting off (came from the factory that way).

The ability to turn the tail lights off is a great idea and I'm going to have to had that.

If you want to go one step further, carry NVG with you so that you can drive in the dark.

I would also, put the best muffler on it, I consider quiet to also be camouflage.


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## Tirediron

One thing that I forgot about is to gather some extra headlights or switch the rad support grill out for a pre '88 because the "carry over" headlights were only used for a short period and will be hard to replace in a PAW, my son's 90 Jimmy has them, and they were hard to find and expensive to renew. A no warning failure on that chassis is the upper ball joints, you may want to check those if you haven't. that failure would suck in a bugout situation.


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## bugoutbob

It's a tough call as to color scheme because I live in suburbia but spend a lot of town in rural areas or out in the boonies.


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## NaeKid

bugoutbob said:


> It's a tough call as to color scheme because I live in suburbia but spend a lot of town in rural areas or out in the boonies.


I think that the base-color of the truck is virtually perfect to hide in town, but, make the camper on the back closely match that of the truck ... maybe do a tribal flame-job on the truck and camper, but, make the flames several different shades of grey and black to break-up the shape of the truck ... make it look fun.

A sample of a tribal-flame paint-job


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## gabbyj310

My son has a truck almost like yours and he is always hard to find as there are soooo many of those tan/gold type color trucks around,if you just want to blend in .If it was flat tan it would be more noticeable and says BOV to several people.But leave it reg gold/tan and beat up a little and not shiney clean,then no one will even look twice.Course the camo net is good for when you really need that too.


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## PipLogan

k0xxx said:


> Yep. I have a lighted switch for that. Flip the switch, no more brake lights and the light on the switch goes out (lighted switch so I don't forget to turn them back on). As for the dome light, I removed the lamp and use the map lights if I need to see something.


I think I may do that to my vehicle. Good call k0xxx!


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## Mortblanc

I have shot several cars and trucks with flat primer gray and have always noted that I had to be very careful after doing that paint scheme. People tend to try and run over me because they do not realize I am there.

They will pull out in front of me at stop signs, try to merge to where I am in traffic and generally do not realize I am present.

My family also had a rule for buying cars after their third baby blue vehicle was totaled with the other driver at fault. No sky blue, it blends into the horizon too well.

Back in the old days Indian fighters preferred gray, dappled or pinto horses and generally refused to use white or black mounts and avoided bays whenever possible.

Gray or light brown/tan would be my preferred choice for acceptable to the family and low impact color.


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## yourpracticalprepper

I really think this would be a great idea on a BOV


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## bugoutbob

Has anyone used the Plasti-dip yet? It looks like a great idea. I wondered how durable it really is especially under extreme weather conditions


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## NaeKid

One of my best friends introduced me to PlastiDip - they did the wheels of the car about a year ago and it is still looking good, even after a harsh winter driving around Calgary.

I am thinking of doing the PlastiDip-stuff as a hood-guard - you know how stones destroy the front of vehicles around here, eh?


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## hiwall

Have you considered Astro-turf............................


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## Tirediron

the gravel road mist that gets on our trucks, when it rains, make them blend in in our area, and makes them easy to find in parking lots when we have to go to a city, except my wife's pet Tahoe, it gets washed.


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## kappydell

even with new cars light silver blends in so you don't see them on the road. In a high-concrete area, light gray would be good (nonreflective). I like the lighter, flat tan myself; you can toss a camo net over for other colors (or just let it get reeeeealy dirty if you like the more natural look.


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## LincTex

k0xxx said:


> Yep. I have a lighted switch for that. Flip the switch, no more brake lights


Pulling the E-brake handle also works, but less than half of braking power is available.


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