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AFV Painting & Weathering
Answers to questions about the right paint scheme or tips for the right effect.
Help with German Dark Green Basecoat (Stug)
kunjuro
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Philippines
Joined: October 27, 2013
KitMaker: 520 posts
Armorama: 488 posts
Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2014 - 06:09 AM UTC
Background: Hey guys. I'm only a casual modeler and I'm not particularly well trained when it comes to painting stuff. Also, since I'm a clueless, penniless, and time-constrained student - I tried experimenting with a can of industrial spray paint we had at home. I had a stug IV in 1:35 scale just newly finished in order to practice my skills at painting (I've tried brush painting before, I wanted to see if I could pull off using industrial grade spray paint (bosny for this particular test)).

My question however... lies in the shade of green I used in painting this particular model. My question is: in how many shades of green did the late-war green basecoat of german tanks came out? I've mostly seen Olive Green tones... but did any come out in just deep/dark green?

This is what my stug currently looks like. Sorry for the bad quality - the tank is a tad bit darker than what the photo presents it to be.






This is the actual shade of the spray paint I used:
http://www.google.com.ph/imgres?client=firefox-a&sa=G&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=sb&biw=792&bih=383&tbm=isch&tbnid=gqDjlqtJCBfDaM%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2FAutomotive-Tools-%2F34998%2Fi.html%3F_fln%3D1%26_catref%3D1%26_vxp%3Dmtr%26_nkw%3D13%2Bgreen%26_sop%3D15&docid=LESzeu1_CvJ5sM&itg=1&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fthumbs1.ebaystatic.com%2Fd%2Fl225%2Fm%2FmMolGthJ7qx5OQWSD0kSasA.jpg&w=185&h=225&ei=TBcWU6XRGcm5lQXm6YCQBQ&zoom=1&ved=0CF0QhBwwBA&iact=rc&dur=1056&page=1&start=0&ndsp=8


SO how far am I from the right shade of german green? What can I do to fix the color of the model? (I've heard of acrylic filters... will that help? and what color should I use?)

PS: Yes. Next time I won't be such a cheapskate and actually buy hobby-grade tamiya with the right color for the tank @_@
Thudius
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Uusimaa, Finland
Joined: October 22, 2012
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Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2014 - 08:02 AM UTC
Looks like you got a nice even coat on, so that's a positive start. As to what colour it should be, I'll leave that for others more familiar with the subject. As to being cheap, no harm in that. Not everybody can afford or be bothered paying for "proper" paints, if it works, it works. Now, filters are basically tints, or stains if you like, layers of colour to change the tones of the base. These can be done with anything from oils to pigments, to varying effect depending on the medium and technique used. If you do a search up top for "filters" you can get a better understanding of what the different types are and how to best use them and at what stage.

If you're going to continue brush painting, I'd recommend looking at Vallejos. They are very easy to work with and aren't terribly expensive. And if you have the patience to learn a little about mixing colours, you won't need to buy a whole bunch of them either.

Hopefully others will chime in with their 2 cents.

Kimmo
Chrisk-K
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Maryland, United States
Joined: January 09, 2012
KitMaker: 310 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2014 - 08:04 AM UTC
Germany didn't use a green base coat. They used a red primer and applied a dark yellow base coat. You can apply dark yellow and red brown on your model to emulate a late WWII German camo.
kunjuro
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Philippines
Joined: October 27, 2013
KitMaker: 520 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, March 05, 2014 - 01:36 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Germany didn't use a green base coat. They used a red primer and applied a dark yellow base coat. You can apply dark yellow and red brown on your model to emulate a late WWII German camo.



Are you entirely sure friend? I've seen photos and models of late-war Jagdpanthers and Tiger IIs with a basecoat of olive grun painted on them because of the shortage on available paint. I was wondering if there were any Stugs with the same basecoat.


Quoted Text

Looks like you got a nice even coat on, so that's a positive start. As to what colour it should be, I'll leave that for others more familiar with the subject. As to being cheap, no harm in that. Not everybody can afford or be bothered paying for "proper" paints, if it works, it works. Now, filters are basically tints, or stains if you like, layers of colour to change the tones of the base. These can be done with anything from oils to pigments, to varying effect depending on the medium and technique used. If you do a search up top for "filters" you can get a better understanding of what the different types are and how to best use them and at what stage.

If you're going to continue brush painting, I'd recommend looking at Vallejos. They are very easy to work with and aren't terribly expensive. And if you have the patience to learn a little about mixing colours, you won't need to buy a whole bunch of them either.

Hopefully others will chime in with their 2 cents.

Kimmo



Thanks for the advice. I've been eyeing vallejo for quite a bit... 3 dollars for a small bottle shouldn't be that expensive.
Vodnik
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Warszawa, Poland
Joined: March 26, 2003
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Posted: Wednesday, March 05, 2014 - 02:30 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Are you entirely sure friend? I've seen photos and models of late-war Jagdpanthers and Tiger IIs with a basecoat of olive grun painted on them because of the shortage on available paint.


Correct. The order to change the basecoat to Dunkelgrun was dated 20 December 1944.
Biggles2
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Quebec, Canada
Joined: January 01, 2004
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Posted: Wednesday, March 05, 2014 - 04:05 AM UTC
The switch to green base color wasn't so much because of paint shortage (even though there was that) but because the nature of the terrain was changing. In 1943, dark yellow was desired because it blended in better in the vast fields of Russia and Ukraine (mostly wheat). By the end of 1944 the fighting was now in the more forested regions of central Europe, making green a better base color. If you examine photos of armor in Normandy, for example, especially Tiger l's of 1st, 2nd, and 12th SS Schwere Battalions, the tanks had more green and brown overspray with very little yellow remaining. Just enough for contrast. (Although there will be exceptions - always are ).
kunjuro
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Philippines
Joined: October 27, 2013
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Posted: Wednesday, March 05, 2014 - 06:37 PM UTC
Right, since the debate whether or not green was used as a basecoat for german tanks late in the war....

Can someone please tell me if Stugs also followed the same pattern and if so - how far am I from the right shade of green?
Biggles2
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Quebec, Canada
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Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2014 - 03:59 AM UTC
Pretty far! On my screen your color looks like a pastel blueish-green! Maybe turquoise. The German green was called Olive-grun, which is olive green.
kunjuro
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Philippines
Joined: October 27, 2013
KitMaker: 520 posts
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Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2014 - 04:51 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Pretty far! On my screen your color looks like a pastel blueish-green! Maybe turquoise. The German green was called Olive-grun, which is olive green.



Yeah, I sort of thought the same. Although the camera kinda made the entire thing bluer and lighter than usual (it's actually a bit darker and a bit more green than the photo implies)... I'm thinking of removing the paint on the entire thing and buying a can of tamiya olive/dark green or even just go with the traditional dunkelgelb basecoat. Thanks for your comment
Grauwolf
#084
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Quebec, Canada
Joined: September 14, 2005
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Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2014 - 05:18 AM UTC
If you paint with a spray can, look up Tamiya TS 28 olive green....this will give you a good idea of the color.

Cheers,
Joe
Biggles2
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Quebec, Canada
Joined: January 01, 2004
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Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2014 - 06:15 AM UTC
What kind of paint did you use? It might prove difficult to remove without either damaging the plastic, or breaking parts.
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