It seems like I can only find info on the Internet about the "Internal" colour of the Bovington Tiger.
So I ask here, and yes---daring to bring up the dreaded "D" word--the following questions that
have brought me to a quandary of contemplation thus far.

Is the predominant (tan type) exterior colour supposed to be accurate according to Jentz?

Being that this Tiger was used in the African theatre--is this tannish predominate colour on the tank,
supposed to be unique to the African theatre only?

Is it considered Dunkelgelb? If it is, is it a version of Dunkelgelb uniquely pertinent to the
tanks used in "only" the African theatre? Or is this same colour found on later war tanks in
either the European or Western theatre --or both?.

There is also an overspray of a lightish green colour over this base colour. Is it a possible standard
green used at the time on German tanks in Africa, and/or elsewhere?
Could that green be from enemy or allied stock--and not of German origin.
Could this be the green some Tigers were supposed to be completely painted with in Tunisia?

Is it remotely possible, that the tannish colour is not Dunkelgelb--and that the greenish colour is?

These questions I've been hashing and rehashing has left me rather confused!
Can anyone help clear things up for me?

I don't know all the answers but here's what i can share:

Jentz was pivotal in the consultation period as the museum crew sanded down the paint to discover the wartime scheme. The green and tan pattern is correct for most of the exterior. Tom said some areas could not be verified by period photographs nor the careful removal of paint layers. In those areas, they just matched the pattern and camo:base coat ratio as in other areas.

The green is not dunkelgelb. In fact dunkelgelb has no green tint to it at all, in real life. The accepted modeler's dunkelgelb has a green hue b/c Tamiya and Humbrol didn't match their colors to actual samples in full spectrum light (or something like that). If you get an actual, wartime painted dunkelgelb item and bring it under fluorescent light, it'll reflect a greenish tinge. But since the equipment was outside.... Therefore, there's no way that the green camo clouds on the Bovington tiger are actual wartime dunkelgelb.

Restoration confirmed the Bovington Tiger was originally painted RAL 8000, a golden brown/green oversprayed with RAL 7008 a greenish khaki color.

These were the proscribed colors for the tropics for most of 1941. 1942 saw RAL 8020, a pinkish tan oversprayed with RAL 7027, a greenish gray.

None of these are "Dunkelgelb" which came about in the spring of 1943 as the African Campaign came to a close.

I've been studying the Tigers of s.Pz.Abt.501.
The photographic record shows them landing in Africa, fighting at Tebourba, at Ouesseltia and Sidi N'sir. You can see them acquire a stockpile of American vehicles.
What I don't see, is the Tigers getting repainted in a dark colour. I don't see any reason to assume that a repaint happened. The Bovington Tiger could be described as green.

David

I whole heartedly agree. From a distance that color combo could be construed as "green".

sPz Abt 501 Tigers look lake RAL 800 to me. Photos of the Pz IIINs assigned to the battalion certainly look that color. They were as new as the Tigers when shipped over.

David: My recollection is the earliest photos of this captured tank clearly show a pattern. These are the contemporary pictures I alluded to in my post above -- which were the reference for the pattern during the museum repaint. You're not saying that NO camouflage pattern existed on the tank at the time of its capture, right?

I think the restored pattern is correct.

David

Very interesting so far!
In regard to the base colour, I see more Golden Brown, or Honey Brown perhaps, than green--appearing on my monitor. Has anyone here had the good fortune to see this tank at Bovington? And if you have, does it seem to also have a slight green hue? The colour sort of reminds me of that one singular tarnish olive we often see in a jar of green olives.
Seems like this colour would have to be hand mixed to get it right. Does any model paint come even close?

Hello George,

Either Vallejo, Testors Model Master, and Mig, (as seen here in adver.) are going to be pretty close IMO. However, there are some here that will disagree with those mentioned.

HTH.

See ya in the funnies.............

Well you can always go see the movie "Fury" to see how the Tiger looks on film.

Sorry Michael, but the price of going to see a moving picture show would be money well spent for paint!

George,
I would suggest you go to YouTube and search on either "Bovingdon Tiger" or "Tankfest". You should get some footage and can draw your own conclusions. Or you could get the Haynes manual on the Tiger, which details how they researched the paint and has load of colour picture in.

Admittedly my color vision probably isn't the best, but I can't see any 'greeness' whatsoever in any posted pictures of the Bov Tiger. To me it looks like 'sand' - Humbrol 93 back in the day - and the camo looks more like tan than green. Of course your mileage will probably vary!

Yes, Nick--I've been trying to convince myself that the base colour is greenish, and I just cannot see it.
And I do recollect using Humbrol 93 back in the day--Way Back in the day, on a few tanks.
I stopped using Humbrol paints, when I could no longer get the great brush coverage it once provided me. I hope things have changed over there! The only way I can get it to work a little close to how well it worked then, is to pour out all the clear fluid that collects after leaving it undisturbed for a while; far from the excellence of yesterday though.
I also wonder if they still make Humbrol 93 the same exact colour it was, or ...has that changed too?

You know I probably still have many old cans of Humbrol, but for sure the new cans of matt black have been horrible. Seems to go "off", as in separate from the pigment like really old paint. I mixed some with some Testors grey and it soon went solid in the jar. (Happened twice, so not impressed.) I'm not sure, but I don't think the matt clear works as well either. It's OK when I first open a can but it seems to deteriorate rapidly. The easy-to-get enamels are the Testors, but they never seems to have enough pigment in them unlike the old Humbrols which you had to stir for about 5 minutes so you could spend about 1 minute painting a part!

RAL 8000 is one of those colors like IDF sand gray that looks different every time you see it.

For this color I mix Tamiya Flat Earth, Dark Yellow and Yellow Green to start. I then add a bit of Orange until it takes on that golden brown color.

For RAL 7008 I start with tamiya Khaki and add a few drops of Olive Drab. I lighten this with Buff.

Once you Google "Bovington Tiger" and see the many photos taken in a variety of lighting conditions, I think you will see what we mean.

Do not use Humbrol 93. This is their attempt at Dunkelgelb, and whatever the accuracy of the Humbrol pigment, will be wrong for the Tiger which is not in Dunkelgelb. The Tank Museum went to an awful lot of trouble to get the camo right when they did the last repaint, you will be safe following their colours.
More generally, I still use Humbrol and haven't experienced any major issues with it. I admit I do still have a lot of tins which are years old, but I still buy large quantities of Black 33 which I use as a primer, Dark Green 117 (German Camo Green), Dark Brown 160 (German Chokolat), and Dunkelgelb 93. I've even taken to buying the Black in a larger tin!