OD Green Dye Recipe

[steelhawk]

I have a customer wanting OD Green on a holster to match his Springfield Operator 1911.  Has anyone here ever mixed this up? 

[wizard of tragacanth]

I did a quick experiment with Fiebing's Pro Dye.

2 parts Yellow to 1 part Navy Blue = Olive Green

May not be exactly what you want, but pretty close, it may help to add a tiny bit of Orange to that.

nick

Edited January 8, 2020 by wizard of tragacanth

[JLSleather]

I admit it .. I had to look up "OD green" despite former jarhead.  Irritating after all these years I still lace left over right !@!@#!@$!@#$#

I assume you're referring to Olive Drab, not Oculus Dexter.  And I don't think that is "A" color.  But, a color picker pointed at that DW 1911 says that color (at lest in the picture) is R119, G121, B78.  Which it looks like would be obtained by adding grey (black) to yellow.

[wizard of tragacanth]

Trust me... Olive Drab IS a color and it isn't made using yellow and black (or gray).

What kind of color picker did you use and what was the actual target?

Was this a MS Paint color picker used on a computer screen target?

Anyway...if we are going with your color picker, it would be almost equal amounts of red and green with some blue, right?

Or to be more precise: 37% Red, 38% Green, 25% Blue

Or for example -- 1.5oz of Red, 1.5oz of Green and 1oz of Blue.

That assumes that you had your color picker on a true Olive Drab.

And of course, that depends on the actual value of each of these colors in dye form.

nick

[chrisash]

Nick

Would not that mean you have to have the calibrated Red, Green and Blue to make the mix whilst the colours used in the base dye's are probably not the same. by that i mean every dye maker has their own version of Red or any other colour which no doubt is not related to the colour coded red used in the software.

So whilst it is a good guide to a approximation its not a true measurement and would need playing with, The logic is first class just not the base colours of the dye's

[JLSleather]

My mistake. Once again, I thought a guy was looking for ACTUAL INFORMATION.  These days, I routinely ignore the fact that most people ask a question either to have a pointless conversation or simply to get attention.

Originally, I assumed we were talking about this color.  But if I was wrong and we just have a couple hours to do nothing but post about things that really don't matter, let me know and I'll leave you to it.

Which you would get by adding black (technically "grey" to yellow).  Yeah, it looks "green-ish", but that's because the black would suggest "blue" and the green would contain yellow, which only means there's more than one way to arrive at that shade.

BTW .. Google thinks "olive drab" is about a jillion colors.  There is in fact an olive drab "color pallette"... https://www.color-hex.com/color-palette/42715

 

[Constabulary]

Tell a Willys Jeep restorer / WWII military collector that you need an OD color and you get a 2 hrs lecture of how different OD can be - guess how I know There are so many shades of olive drab....

[steelhawk]

3 hours ago, JLSleather said:

My mistake. Once again, I thought a guy was looking for ACTUAL INFORMATION.  These days, I routinely ignore the fact that most people ask a question either to have a pointless conversation or simply to get attention.

Originally, I assumed we were talking about this color.  But if I was wrong and we just have a couple hours to do nothing but post about things that really don't matter, let me know and I'll leave you to it.

Which you would get by adding black (technically "grey" to yellow).  Yeah, it looks "green-ish", but that's because the black would suggest "blue" and the green would contain yellow, which only means there's more than one way to arrive at that shade.

BTW .. Google thinks "olive drab" is about a jillion colors.  There is in fact an olive drab "color pallette"... https://www.color-hex.com/color-palette/42715

 

I believe that is the color I want.

[wizard of tragacanth]

6 hours ago, chrisash said:

Nick

Would not that mean you have to have the calibrated Red, Green and Blue to make the mix whilst the colours used in the base dye's are probably not the same. by that i mean every dye maker has their own version of Red or any other colour which no doubt is not related to the colour coded red used in the software.

So whilst it is a good guide to a approximation its not a true measurement and would need playing with, The logic is first class just not the base colours of the dye's

Yes, Chris, you are absolutely correct. It is very unlikely that the dye colors are equivalent to the RGB values. This is just an estimate. We have to start somewhere.
I started with my own experiment using Fiebing's Yellow and Navy Blue. This resulted in a decent Olive Green which may or may not work for the intended application.

Jeff presented a formula based on RGB values and I converted it to practical dye quantities. There is no guarantee that it will work, but it might.

If no one has an actual formula or source for OD dye, these are two places from which to start one's own experimentation.

nick

 

[chuck123wapati]

7 minutes ago, wizard of tragacanth said:

Yes, Chris, you are absolutely correct. It is very unlikely that the dye colors are equivalent to the RGB values. This is just an estimate. We have to start somewhere.
I started with my own experiment using Fiebing's Yellow and Navy Blue. This resulted in a decent Olive Green which may or may not work for the intended application.

Jeff presented a formula based on RGB values and I converted it to practical dye quantities. There is no guarantee that it will work, but it might.

If no one has an actual formula or source for OD dye, these are two places from which to start one's own experimentation.

nick

 

yup red green and blue are is essence all of the three primary colors with extra blue for making the green value. mixing red yellow and blue depending on quantity creates different hues of grey, brown or black depending on amounts of each color. I can see this as the starting point you also have to realize the color of the leather will add to the mix as most color mixing programs rely an a white background or an opaque color combination. good luck I would love to see the outcome! 

[wizard of tragacanth]

2 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

 you also have to realize the color of the leather will add to the mix as most color mixing programs rely an a white background or an opaque color combination.

A very good point, Chuck!

nick

[steelhawk]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

yup red green and blue are is essence all of the three primary colors with extra blue for making the green value. mixing red yellow and blue depending on quantity creates different hues of grey, brown or black depending on amounts of each color. I can see this as the starting point you also have to realize the color of the leather will add to the mix as most color mixing programs rely an a white background or an opaque color combination. good luck I would love to see the outcome! 

An application of neatsfoot oil will also change the color. I have to take that into consideration as well.

[steelhawk]

I was able to get close to the OD green color by using 1 part black and 6 parts yellow.  1 in 9 parts is also close. Turns out the customer doesn't own the gun yet, so there is no order placed. In a couple of weeks I'll take a trip to a few larger gun stores and take my sample with me to compare colors and see which is the best match.