i have been building german armor for the past 3 months and decided to change things up and go for a nice russian AFV. the problem here is that i have no clue to what color(s) they were painted. i know that the the russians stuck to a one color scheme for the most part and the later t-34’s were painted in a dark green drab type color but that is all. if someone out there knows more about the 1942’s please help me out. thanks.
Well, let’s see for a 1942 T34, you have Russian Green, and Russian Green, and oh yeah, there is Russian Green also.[:D][:p]
OK, enough of being a pain. Here is the real answer.
Russian Green is the main base coat. I’ve always used Model Master’s enamel version of this paint, but there are others.
Some 1942’s (a very few) did recieve a kind of “sand/brown” camo on top of the Russian Green.
If the T34 made it to the winter, then it would get a whitewash coat. The Russians always seemed to have enough whitewash.
If you do a T34 which was captured by the Germans, then pretty much anything goes from a standard Russian Green scheme to Panzer Grey and Dark Yellow with green and brown camo. There would also be some very large German Crosses on the tank.
If you do a T34 which was captured and used by the Finns, then you will have to reproduce the Green, Grey, and Brown scheme of the Finns.
I hope this has helped, and please don’t be offended by my vain attempt at humor early in the post.
Take Care, Good Luck, and please post some pics of the finished kit. Thanks.
I hope this helps.
hey thanks man. no offense taken, i appreciate the info. i need to expand my horizons from the axis!!
Of course if it’s variety you are after you could always paint American armor…OD green for you and me…[:D]
Here’s a topic I started a while ago. I was in the same position as you, trying to broaden my horizons.
http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?page=-1&TOPIC_ID=22109&REPLY_ID=215540#215540
And here is what I came up with, using Tamiya Olive Green. Too light, though, I think.
Although I went a bit overboard on the lightening coats. It looked alright to start with.
Is there a correct color so to speak? Yes it was green, but weather conditions and weathering can change the color dramatically. I have heard dark green being the color also. How dark? How light? Well you get the picture.
Yeah, that annoys the poo out of me .Every different paint manufacturer manages to make a different dark green, for example, than another manufacturer. [:(!]
Anybody got a reference on the “bare metal” T-34s rushed into
combat, Stalingrad? Or has proven to be an eastern front
“Urban Legend”??
I think the WW II Russian Green is kind of like the German camo patterns…there’s a lot of room for individual tinkering and variation simply because there wasn’t a whole lot of attention given to standardization in favor of getting them into action as quickly as possible.
Haven’t tried to tackle Russian armor, but with fading, mud, whitewash remnants, etc. depending on when you are depicting it, the end result wouldn’t be a factory green anyway.
Trying to reproduce Olive Drab #9 for early years American armor can drive you somewhat crazy also, although Testors MM OD gives a good approximation. I imagine the same would be true for their Russian Green.
You can still correct that over lightened color by using darker or original paint along the hull/plate/weld lines and then blending it in with pastels or mud/dirt to provide an uneven/worn/faded look. I’ve found it easier to produce the effect this way than trying to do it with lightened coats applied by airbrush.