Chow_Hound

Hey ya'll,
I am doing a T-34/85 and I was wondering if they were painted with the same olive drab as allied tanks or if they had a green color of their own. If so, what would be the closest match at a hobby paint section?
Tanks in advance.

Harquebus

It is a different green of their own. I cannot recall the actual name but it is a greener green, if that makes sense. I think Testors has it in their paint lineup and it probably has a Federal Standard or FS number on it.

-Harq

greg022754

The base colour I used is Russian Armour Green (testor #2029 in the model masters series). I used this with a heavy wash of black and grime.

greg022754

Here is a couple of pics of T-34 AND t-44 side by side in Russian Armour Green. T-34 is in front and 44 to the rear. Top view the 44 has the longer turret on the right. The 34 has been dull coated and has to Danville runs to its credit and the 44 has a darker wash and a semi-gloss finish. It has been to Danville just once and going again in a couple of weeks.

Arachna

Bear in mind that tanks take a terrible beating and are exposed to a harsh enviroment. If you are close to the "correct" base color, you are good to go. After weathering, it will look good.

If you ever happen to go past a military depot or base, note that the vehicles parked there were painted the same color to start with, but most seem to be slightly different shades after exposure to the elements. I work near Fort Irwin and often see strings of M1a1's and although they are all tan, there is alot of variety in the shade of tan on different tanks.

Russian armor green is certainly the best choice as a base color, but you could certainly lighten it slightly with white or darken it slightly to fit you taste or reflect your weathering. Looking at wartime pictures is a great source of inspiration. You have a fair amount of leeway, so have some fun with it

Harquebus

True. Tanks were always exposed to the elements (never garaged), they were rarely if never washed and the paint faded. However, based on the actual time in combat, these tanks didn't have a life cycle long enough to get nearly as faded as the tanks on outside display we're used to seeing. Based on the horrible attrition rate of WWII, it was rare for a tank to last the entire war. If it did, it was not in the same configuration (up-gunned, up-armored) and some effort was made to keep the paint fresh in accordance with the tactical advantage it gave.

In essence it would not be too unusual to leave your tank with a more or less pristine paint job. I've seen a lot of people go overboard on the weathering on an operational tank. While it does look good, the excess areas of rust and chipped paint tends to look more at home on a derelict junkyard tank.

Dirtiness? Now that's another story...

IMHO,

-Harq

Arachna

Very true. The trend in chipping and heavy fades on models is a bit unrealistic to my eye as well, but whatever floats the modellers boat I suppose.