You've presented a good argument/question!

Is it possible that the darker pigment faded significantly in the desert sun, so after a short while the two tones were virtually indistinguishable?

Or was there a shortage of one of the paints?

Or the lighter tone was appreciably darkened when painted over the standard grey. (the first use of filters..hehe! )

:-?

regards

Derek

As to why many modelers do not care about the two tone painting order... I think the answer is simple Bill, many modelers like to take a freeride.

What I mean by that is a lot of modelers do not have the patience/the funds/ the time to obtain all historical information. Instead, they want to get right down to business and assemble and paint the model on their work benches. Now, since internet has made tons of information available, they do not want to risk making great errors, so they turn to the best alternative for obtaining dependable information: modelers who have built the same model before. I have seen this trend a lot locally and sadly enough if a "popular" modeler is making some basic mistakes on his models, those mistakes were very finely replicated by others who were building a kit of the same vehicle.

As for the rest of the discussion, I am following with real interest. Guess if I paint a DAK vehicle in two colors (and not in sand brown and panzer grey), I might really start a discussion here in Turkey ("Oh no, all Dak panzers are sand brown, Emre's tank is DEFINITELY wrong!" is one of the criticisms I will receive, that's for sure!).

One challenge with replicating these colors is that only Testors offers them in readily-obtainable products, and the Testors paint is enamel. MIG pigments can't be applied to enamels, or it "eats" the finish. You can, of course, coat the paints with a flat spray to offset that problem.

I have looked at color comparison charts until my eyes cross. I believe Humbrol has equivalents, but Humbrols are harder to come up with and are themselves enamels. The Tamiya colors are approximates in several cases.

In particular, why do we not see two-tone schemes applied to DAK/N. Afrika vehicles?

I am proud to say that the one and only DAK vehicle in my collection--a 1/72 Panzer IV F2--wears hard edge, two tone tropical camouflage using the Testors colors. It was built before I really knew how to weather and thus very clean. From a distance of 5 feet, or in poor light, it looks like a single color.

I think more experienced hands have already answered the question well and correctly. Knowledge of the two tone schemes is not very widespread. What looks good gets copied and eventually becomes entrenched. Relatively few modelers do extensive research or keep abreast of the latest findings. When a modeler does use a two tone tropical scheme, weathering makes it difficult to discern.

Who says the forums can't be inspiring?

I think the paint is a real issue here, and Tamiya could go a long way towards upping its relevence in the market by reformulating its color palatte to include the accurate shades. It's very rare to find a Tamiya paint corresponding to an RAL scheme in any table.

I'm not all that familiar with the acrylic paint lines out there...does Vallejo or Lifecolor offer RAL-referenced colors and if so, do they include the necessary two-tone N. Afrika colors? If not, this would seem to be a prime opportunity perhaps.

That is a much better photo Charles ....................Thanks very much for posting this.

Lifecolor "German WWII Tanks Set 1" has RAL 8000, 8020, and 7027. Lifecolor "German WWII Tanks Set 2" contains RAL 7008. Both sets together have 12 colors to cover all schemes from 1935 to 1945. I've used Lifecolor airbrushed and brush painted and I highly recommend it.

...so it would appear that the only full range of available colors in acrylics is Lifecolor or Xtracolor. Vallejo has the earlier '41 schemes but not the '42 (missing RAL 7027) based on the link that Owsi posted.

I remember the first time I saw a France 1940 vehicle painted in two-tone scheme and the discussion it aroused...sometimes the "sacred cows" need to be challenged though...I'm thinking of trying out this two-tone approach with my next build, perhaps a Pz IV F2, and see how it goes. What's interesting to me is that it's something that's easily and clearly documented as being the case all over the 'net (do a Google search for panzer colors and many sites repeat the orders for the different style of 2-tone schemes)...but the absence of actual finished models sporting the scheme is probably the biggest factor in why it's not "accepted" as correct vs. the "accepted" monotone and chipped panzer gray scheme.

Bill,

In a nutshell your remark concerning "sacred cows" is right on the money! Color is one of the most misunderstood and debated elements in our hobby. Color matching and color contrasts such as the colors presented here also add to the fire. I think that making slight adjustments to the colors to obtain definite contrasts between the colors but staying within the tonal color range of the colors and having the contrast remain between the colors after the weathering is the real trick here!

-Eddy