I'm working on a Tamiya Matilda tank, and they don't call out colors of the interior of the turret. Does anyone have a clue as to what color I should paint it? I'm sure it is probably whatever 'standard' British WWII tank interior colors were, but I need some help.

Hi Curt,

Years ago was a website 'AFV Interiors' or something like that. I recall the Matilda interior was painted silver.

This site shows color photos of a Matilda in Australia (note they discuss it being white but also silver for anti-spalling): http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4620

Some interior pics of a Mk II (Jacques Littlefield Collection):

http://svsm.org/gallery/matildainterior

H.P.

It could be silver or white. I had a chat recently with Mike Starmer (the go-to guy for researching British tank paint) about a Cromwell I'm building, and he pointed out orders from (IIRC) 1939 that listed the use of silver and/or white, so it seems the switch from silver to white started long before the flood of US lend-lease kit in the early '40s. He suggested it might be driven by the sudden need for all the aluminium in aircraft manufacture as wartime production ramped up - it was obviously higher priority than using the allie powder to decorate the interior of tanks.

So it looks like you can go either way and be correct.

You also might be interested in "The Matilda Diaries" where the Tank Museum is restoring their Matilda.

Thank you all VERY much for the help! I was hoping it would be something simple like this. I loved looking at all the links you provided, everyone, also. Many thanks again!

Turns out that finishing putting most of the Tamiya Matilda parts together was pretty simple. Now, the vast amount of the effort in finishing this tank will be the painting and weathering. Unfortunately, my airbrush spot in the house is out of commission for about a week and a half, as my wife is having friends from out of town coming in, and I can't make a mess. Oh well!!

If you go on the Tank Museum's youtube channel they have lots of videos on the restoration of their Matilda. You will get not only details about internal colours but also lots of detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wM0KN27ano