I am looking to take another break from WW2 Axis and tackle another kit in my stash: Tamiya's Char Bis. The kit has four camo combos, and I recall that two of them have the camo panels separated by a fine (what looks to be gray) line. I'm hesitating going there because it looks like a lot of delicate hand brushing. Any information would be helpful.

Jim,
You could try the Chars Francais website i.e. www.chars-francais.net for info. There is a Char B section on that site for vehicle history of well known Char B's and also information on color schemes and camo in the 'Marques Camouflages' section. My IPMS chapter did a group build of Char B's for the IPMS Nationals this year (we were lucky enough to win the group build and chapter build categories) and this site was absolutely invaluable to us.

As far as I recall the demarcation lines of which you speak, were actually black, and at least one of our guys masked the camo pattern with silly-putty, airbrushed them and then drew the lines in afterward with a permanent marker. A lot easier than painting them and you get a nice consistent line that way. I hope this helps anyway.
Regards,
Tony

Ooops - sorry Bill. Not sure why I typed 'Jim' in there! A slip of the keyboard...

Bill,

I'm in the process of working on a Char Bis with the Renault style camo you are talking about. I used a Gundam black marker to do the black lines around the camo patterns and used masking tape to mask out each section. It wasn't that hard to do, but time consuming...I still need to work on the turret yet.

Albert, thanks for the tip, that site is tremendous.

Scott, which Gundam? There appear to be several grades for the tip.

Anyone carry these markers in the States?

Bill I wouldn't obsess too much over the demarcation lines. The French fitters used a brush like we would. When I did mine, I just hand painted them.

To further complicate matters, sometimes the chassis had sprayed demarcation lines. That's what I did with my Char B.

Roy... it would appear the tracks on your Char are backwards at the time of that photo.

Hey Thanks Jesse. I'll have to check on that. I believe you've got something there! The model isn't in my possession right now. I'll have to go and correct that!!!

Glad to be of help Roy. You've answered my questions before.


Bill, check your PM's.

Bill:

I did one of those lined French schemes on a Heller Renault 35- sprayed the three colours fairly tightly free-hand (Vert base, Kaki and Chocolate brown as blotches), then followed up with a black Sharpie Ultra-fine marker for the lines. NO MASKING needed! Where the marker did not do well, I followed behind with a small brush and some grimy-black to get into corners and the like.

Tried to post a pic, but the KM photo site is down right at this time, so... maybe later!

If you are patient and handy with your AB, you can get a great representation of the sprayed demarkation lines seen in many photos...! But you probably want a set-handle to help keep the line pretty constant in width...

Bob

I agree with the others. When I built mine I sprayed the three main colors (using some sort of gunk to get a good demarcation), then I used a standard waterproof black felt pen to do the black lines. It had a reddish sheen to it but a coat of matt varnish took care of that.

Cheers!
Stefan

www.chars-francais.net-what a great site. Thanks for sharing. My winter project is the Tamiya Bis and this site is perfect.

That kit is one of my favorites. I've built Tunisie, above -- and another as a Channel Island German operated Char. The tweaks to correct it are relatively minor. Here are albums of my builds. If you have any construction or correction questions, feel free to email me [email protected]

http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f74/ericadeane/Char%20B1%20bis/
http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f74/ericadeane/Panzer%20B2/

I'm building a german flammenwefer version right now, and the kit basically falls together. The Blast Models conversion is quite nice too.

Fantasque! now there is a camo pattern!



http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab51/AikinutNNY/char.jpg

If anyone is building a Char B I'd heartily recommend the books and DVD from Editions du Barbotin

Oh yes, and shameless plug: don't forget my interior kit for the turret and fighting compartment is out in November

Roy: Very nice builds mate!

Jesse: Do you have a build log going on for it?

Jim: Now that's a camo scheme!! I don't understand what they mean by color textiles however...

Chris: Come on! Come on! What's taking so long!? Lol, just messin' with ya mate, looking forward to seeing the final product

Not this one Jeremy. There was so little "work" involved that I didn't bother. It's already built and ready for a coat of paint, hopefully tonight. I will post pictures of the finished product when I get it done.

I encourage you to Jesse, I'd love to see it

Jim: Now that's a camo scheme!! I don't understand what they mean by color textiles however...

There was a group of "artists" who did the camo pattern. They applied a material with a raised texture to the tank and then painted it with the pattern. The result was like a camo pattern over Zimmerit vs a smooth flat surface. The human eye would not pick up that there was a painted flat surface.

The problem was two fold. First the fabric was torn off when driving through brush and the pattern would stick out like a sore thumb in the winter where the trees had no leaves and snow on the ground. Or autumn when the leaves were changing color and this lush green tank was "hiding".

I imagine that when the back ground was right that the tank would just "disappear" from view. Like a totally white washed tank in the middle of a freshly fallen snow covering a field, with its track marks covered by the storm. Now once the tank moves its tracks will lead you right to it and the diesel exhaust colors the vehicle black.

The French army determined that the camo pattern was too labor intensive, did not wear well and could not adapt to any changes in the environment.

Jim: Hmm, thanks for the explanation. I'm still tempted to pursue this particular camo design when I build my B1 Bis...