I’d like to match the box art on the 1/35 DML Firefly.I don’t know how accurate it is,but it’s a lighter shade of green and I like the way it looks.Do you guys have any recommendations on how I could match it?
Thanks
Ed
One more question.What kind of tracks are on this thing?Are they rubber pads with steel cleats?
DML made three separate Firefly VC kits. Which box no. are you referring to? If I’m correct, all of their kits had T62 steel chevron tracks. They were all steel construction – no rubber.
I concur with T26, those are the exact tracks my DML Firefly had.
The box number is 6182.So these tracks are all steel,correct?
I need the same help on my Firefly. What is the correct color for British armor in Europe in WWII?
Artistically, if you want to match Ron Volstad’s painting, just go with what looks right to you. It’s not as if Ron published notes on what shade of green he used in his painting. Maybe look over your paints or go to the hobby shop rack and see what matches to you.
As for actual wartime paint, it seems that all Fireflies were painted overall SCC15, which when freshly applied, was identical to the original US applied olive drab. However, supposedly when it faded, it had a greener hue than US faded olive drab. What does that equate to in 1/35 armor? Anyone’s guess. I’m just going to have to wing it myself as I’m about to do a Cromwell V. But given that mine is in Italy, it’ll be very dusty regardless.
I have heard that they were like a bronze-green. I painted mine with with XF-51 Khaki Drab.
PS OT but what is that in your avatar T26?
MIddle Bronze Green (no 23) was an early war color up until April '44. It was also known as SCC 2. In April '44, SCC15 supplanted SCC2 as the base color. While it’s likely that a few of the early VC Firefly upgrades (full production started in Feb '44) would have been repainted from the original US Olive Drab with SCC2, the bulk of them can be safely assumed to have fallen under the SCC15 paint order. As the IC Firelys were converted later, I would advise only SCC15 for them.
Mike Starmer is noted as being the authority on this. Look here:
http://www.mafva.org.uk/PDF/BritishCamouflage1.pdf
My Avatar? Why it’s my T26E4 Super Pershing model (thus, my nickname). If you’re interested in seeing it, go here: http://www.track-link.net/blogs/17
Ed
I painted mine with Tamiya colours. I began with an overall primer of Deck Tan. I then mixed Khaki Drab with Black Green at 90% KD and 10% BG. I coated all the armour surfaces with this colour. I then added Flat Flesh to the base colour and filled in the centers of each panel leaving a thin edge of the base colour on all sides. I then added a few drops of Buff to the secondary colour and misted this over all the surfaces to blend in the tones. After that I treated the various areas with a black wash over 90% thinner and 10% Burnt Umber oil paint. The last step was to pick out the “chipped” areas with the original base colour and a fine 10/0 and 5/0 brush or the splintered end of a matchstick for the really small scratches. After all that I put in the “exposed” metal areas with an HB pencil sharpened to a fine point. I added rust and corrosion to minor areas with orange coloured pencil and blending with a stiff brush.
Hope that helps.
Cheers;
Gregory
I must admit I’ve never done such an intricate finish.How long did that take?
When I try to represent SCC 15 I start out using Tamiya’s Olive drab and lighten it with their olive green , I then add either XF 59 or XF60 to lighten this even more and then add either some buff or deck tan to the mix for the final lightening …I’ve taken up to eight hours to paint the base colors on some of my 1/35th scale tanks but in the end it shows if you take your time … here’s a picture of how my cromwell turned out …
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f306/RichardCraig/armorama1066.jpg
Rick
Ed
It is a lot more “involved” sounding than it actually is. Total time from start to finish with the airbrush was less than an hour. I mixed the two main colours in the large bottles for my Badger airbrush and used about half of each colour. The washes and filter etc. etc. were applied later the same day at about 1/2 hour in length. So including cleaning the airbrush after the painting session about 2 1/2 hours over the course of an afternoon and evening. I didn’t clean the airbrush out between colours to save time and to blend the colours a bit while the first coat was still fresh.
Once you get going and get the results you want it is hard to stop.[:P]
Cheers;
Gregory