I finally got some stocks in the newly "standardized" Flat Dark Earth to compare with my other stocks.
My first thoughts on opening the package was "Its fucking grey"...but I won't keep you in suspence. Here is a pic:



From left to right we see: a CavArms handguard in Coyote Tan, a TangoDown pistol grip in the new Flat Dark Earth, a TangoDown vert grip in the old Tan, a VLTOR stock in the old Tan, and finally a CavArms buttstock in Coyote Tan. In the foreground are some TD rail covers in the old Tan.

As you can see, the old Tan from TD and VLTOR are not the same color. The VLTOR is darker and greyer, but still not a match for the new Flat Dark Earth. This is the old VLTOR color and I have not seen their new Flat Dark Earth, which is supposed to match the Cav and TD stuff. The older Tans are nowhere near a match to the new color.

Now onto Flat Dark Earth/Coyote Tan. What a weird color! Its hard to nail down just what it looks like...greyish tan, or tannish grey? It looks different under different lighting conditions also; the above pic was taken indoors at night with bright lighting and a flash, so it looks lighter and greyer than it does under natural light. I took the Cav stock with me to school yesterday to see how it looks as night fell, as it looked a bit on the light side and might show too light at night, but as the light level fell it looked progressivly darker. Sitting in front of me now it looks much darker and browner than the pic. Tomorrow I will take this stuff out to my lawn and take a pic under natural daylight.

Now, as for color match between brands...the Cav Coyote Tan and TD Flat Dark Earth are perfect matches. The new TD grip looks a bit darker in the pic, but this is due to different surface texture. I am well pleased with this new color.

Thanks for the pic, very helpful. I'm considering putting together an AR in "flat dark earth". It's the perfect color for dry-as-a-bone eastern OR and WA.

Anyone with pics, please feel free to ad to this so we can see different digicam color results.

Tango Down and VLTOR tan

I am glad the manufactures are getting on the same sheet or music.

My $.02.

I got tired of trying to match them up. My ergo grip in coyote brown and my cav arms telestock in coyote brown were the closest match.  Used those and shot my lower with Krylon Khaki. It is only about a shade lighter. So I hit my M4 handguards too.

Yeah it looks gray under certain light, but looks fine in the outdoors.

good work. thanks.

Here we are in daylight. You see that the Flat Dark Earth now appears to be tan with little or no grey.

Also shown is a CavArms Green buttstock, which is close but not an exact match to KAC/TangoDown OD Green



Its a good thing we have the folks at CavArms to make this stuff; it's well made and sturdy.

There is all ways paint.........

I'm going to totally KG FDE at least one of my ARs.

Great thread.  Just the info I was looking for.

TS

All the SOCOM FDE parts on my rifle match-

VLTOR ModStock
Tango Down Pistol Grip
MagPul XT Rail Covers

Yup, Cav, TD, and VLTOR are all on the same page now:

I've got a carbine with a Cav Arms stock, TD VFG, and Ergo grip all in OD. The TD was, by far, the worst match. I shot them all with Krylon OD and the thing looks great. It not only matched the color, but took the shine off the plastic parts. If it gets scratched, everything is still OD under the paint, and it can be repainted if ever needed. My solution, YMMV.