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ACU camo?

tc1283

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Has anyone every seen/ heard/ thought of doing an ACU pattern on thier CUCV?!?! I wanna say i think it would look cool, but im not ENTIRELY convinced about that. Just wondering what other peoples opinions about it are.
 

Flyingvan911

Well-known member
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Kansas City, MO
I've never seen a MV in ACU. If you made the design large, it might not be so bad. If you do the ACU in actual proportion to the uniform it would be a huge project.
 

Elwenil

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"Digital" patterns have been done in various forms. If you make the blocks too large it looks a bit odd and does nothing as far as camouflage. Making it too small and it just looks grey froma distance like an ACU uniform. Better step up and go ahead and swap to Crye Multicam pattern anyway. I hear ACU is on it's way out.
 

tc1283

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As of now, the new multicam pattern is being issued to soldiers going over seas to Afghanistan first. In like i think July they will start to issue mulitcam to soldiers ALREADY over there. And then the Army is basically using that as the "test" run and then i think like next year decide if they are going to make the change Army wide.

So i guess my question is...

What do ya'll think about a Muliticam MV? If i did ACU i would make it proportional to the truck.
 

ida34

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Dexter, MI
The military tested the digital camo of vehicles in the 80's or 90's but stayed with three color. David Doyle had an article on this in MVM or Army Motors and it had pics from the period. It was experimental only and was used in Europe IIRC. This was way before ACU were even thought of.
 

gunboy1656

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Actually the digital pattern was used on vehicles starting in the 80's (on US vehicles) in Germany, there is a thread on here about it and an article in Military Vehicles Magazine.

And yes the ACU pattern is on the way out the door, some units are now being issued the multicam. Boy that did not take too long to get rid of.
 

sigo

Lieutenant Colonel
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I believe I saw a photo of an Alvis Scorpion owned by Tactical Tailor of Tacoma, WA painted up in a UCP type digital pattern. Looked pretty cool as I recall.
 

usmc81301

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Bayfield CO
I saw the multicam and I am still a bigger fan of the desert MARPAT. I think it would be cool to paint a vehicle in either MARPAT. It's your truck, do what makes you happy.
 

Elwenil

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You should dig around in the Tank and APC section for posts by Wgtactical and their modified M114 that has a woodland digital pattern on it.
 

MSgt USMC (Ret)

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Aervoe makes a Digital Stencil kit designed for smaller items like weapons. I'd love a Multi-Cam paint job but can't imagine how difficult it would be to do.

For some reason the Army had there chance at Multi-Cam years ago and chose that hideous ACU pattern. In addition to a horrible pattern the material is sub standard and the endless amount of Velcro on it just adds to the debacle.

Recently, the Navy SEALS adopted there own pattern and it's almost a mirror image to the Marine Corps Digital desert and woodland.
 

ecupirate

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Clinton, NC
The NC Guard has a Hummer that is done in ACU. It is for recruiting and they had it wrapped by one of those companies that does complete vehicle wraps for signs and stuff I believe. I personally think it looks like pooh and would be completely useless except for looks. I think a three color desert pattern would look awesome on vehicle.
 

Scooter_Mann

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Muscatine, Iowa
We have the Camoclad 3M product in desert tan and well as woodland. It is available in both permanent and removable. It can be used on everything from guns to full trucks. The removable material it the easiest to apply. When applying it you can put it on and off 100 times if need be... once you hit it with some heat... then it is set. Please let me know if there isd anything you need. The permanent is for application such as boats where there is a lot of exposure to being submerged in water.
 

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Rich Johnson

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San Diego CA
Well, here is my 2cents
Here is a picture I caught of the AZ Guard recruiting HMMWV. Im not fond of it.
Here in CA, the Guard has 7 emergency comm trucks, 5 are HMMWVs. I work on one of them, (My profile pic). I here that somebody wants to wrap them with ACU, yet others want to go 686 sand. Im up for 686 sand myself.

I know a guy that did his mutt in Digital Marpat right after the USMC got their new digis. He went desert right off the uniform. He said it took about a month to design it and make is stencils and another to paint it. But it looked really cool.

And yes, I hate our uniform. The velcro sucks and the colors blend into everything equally poorly. (unless its dead California sage, then you blend right in, and we know that every environment we fight in has tons of dead California sage)

My opinion, keep the pattern, swicth to two uniforms, one green base and one tan base, oh wait the Marines allready thought about that.
 

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B3.3T

Well-known member
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SW Ohio
Digital camo, sure. As for ACU, there is no way around it; it sucks, it is useless, and the sooner its gone, the better for our soldiers. Stupid idea. Gravel road camo! Sure. Multicam is worlds better in Afghanistan at least, but not many other places. The Marines and Canadians got it right.
 

KyCUCVs

Member
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Location
Louisville, KY
I never liked the ACU uniform or the ACU pattern. The jacket was too short. Didn’t like the collar. All of the Velcro was a pain. Didn’t like the location of the rank. Officers didn’t wear their Branch on it. The pattern wasn’t camouflage. When the uniform first came out, soldiers we sent to PLDC, BNCOC and ANCOC came back saying they were always the first ones “killed” in field exercises because the ACU pattern stands out in the woods. The only time I've seen the ACU pattern work is in that photo that circulated on the internet of a soldier in ACU's laying on his grandmother's couch! We received our ACU’s our first month in Afghanistan. I stayed with my DCU’s until my return. I retired six months later.

When it comes to camouflage patterns and uniforms, the Marines always get it right. They were wearing camo when we were still wearing the green “pickle suit” and tucking our shirts into our pants. Their current field uniforms look like a Warriors uniform.

Vehicle-wise, the Army isn’t using the ACU pattern on vehicles, because it doesn’t work. Strangely enough, Army Recruiters are getting ACU camouflaged Hummers because it draws attention to the vehicle. Go figure.
 

MSgt USMC (Ret)

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The whole design of the jacket never made sense to me. Wearing an OTV (Outer Tactical Vest there's no need for that mandarin collar. Most Soldiers today opt for the combat shirt over the ACU jacket.
I taught Combat Water Survival for 4 years and one of the techniques the Marines had to master was making an expedient flotation device from there cammie blouse/jacket. You had to make an air tight seal around your neck by grasping your collar and tightening it around your neck with the top button secured and blow air into an opening created by unbuttoning your second button from the top. When done right it worked like a champ. I realize that the vast majority of Soldiers will never find themselves in an aquatic environment but I feel the design falls far short from effective.

The actual pattern is totally non effective in a heavy spring/summer woodland environment. I've met Soldiers that are wearing the new Flame Resistant ACU or FRACU Delta Pattern in Afghanistan and it looks pretty bad ass.
 

dc3coyote

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Chattanooga TN
I dont care for the pattern. During our land nav classes in predeployment, the ACUs stood out as much if not more than our DCUs we were wearing in the woods. As far as vehicles go, SixSpeed, did a couple on photo shop of a 818, while it looks neat, in a much darker pattern, it still is a useless style for the truck.
Stick with three color, or Merdc
 
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