Sweet !! thank you for all that info Mauro, especially like the one color plate on the bottom with the number 518 on the turret side, wonder why they painted white stars instead of the traditional red ones?, and ideas what color 518 maybe?

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Sweet !! thank you for all that info Mauro, especially like the one color plate on the bottom with the number 518 on the turret side, wonder why they painted white stars instead of the traditional red ones?, and ideas what color 518 maybe?

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That unit was the subject of a build article in Military Modelling Magazine a couple of years back. The author's interpretation was that the turrets had been repainted in 4BO Protective Green with white unit markings, and the hulls had been left in German cammo (the color values were screwed up when the magazine went to the printer, though--the author says he painted the turret green, but the photo editor apparently thought it was supposed to be gray, so gray it became, the curse of Photoshop).
As for the white insignia, Soviet troops rarely used red stars during the war, perhaps because it compromised camouflage too much, or perhaps because they didn't usually have any red paint. When dark, (possibly red) markings are seen on Soviet AFV's, it's usually on white winter finishes. The precise color is impossible to know, of course, since the photos are all black and white.