Hi all,

I've got a list of paint supplies ready in my Amazon cart for my Panzer III. I'm attempting to model a tank from the 18th Panzer Division, Russia, Winter 1942. According to my Tamiya directions, this tank will be dark yellow. I used the conversion chart to get the Vallejo colors.

The only thing I don't have pinned down is do I need any red/brown colors for rust/tracks? Tamiya suggests "Metallic Grey" for the tracks. Not sure what Vallejo option to use for this.

Here is my list so far (all Vallejo colors):
Airbrush colors:
-AFV Dark Yellow Modulation Set
-AFV Weathering for Yellow and Grey Vehicles

"Model Color" series paint for hand brushing:
-Field Grey (894)
-Dark Green (979)
-Khaki (988)
-Flat Flesh (955)
-Flat White (951)
-Flat Black & Semi Gloss Black (950, 950+510) *510 is gloss varnish
-Gunmetal (863+510) *510 is gloss varnish
-German Grey (995)


Thanks,

Greg

Metallic grey would possibly be OK for fresh tracks, and if you want to stick with Vallejo, "Oily Steel" (70.865) would be a reasonable match. Basecoat in that, then give a wash of a rusty, dark red-brown, maybe 70.985 "Hull Red" or 70.982 "Cavalry Brown". Conversely, you could basecoat in the dark red-brown and drybrush the Oily Steel on the wear areas/ high points. It all depends on how much wear that you want to depict on your tracks.
By the way, the 70.865 "Oily Steel" is a good investment regardless. It has a good steel tone (darker, and better than Model Master Steel, IMHO), and a very fine grain, almost as fine as MM Metallizer paints. Many possible uses.

If it's in winter 1942, unlikely to be Dunkelgelb (introduced Feb 1943). It could be the two-tone Tropen scheme if 18.PD was one of those units equipped with vehs painted in that scheme though. I'm on a train right now so I can't easily check!

Thank you Floyd for your information on the tracks. I will add this to my order.

Robert,

As I tried to do some research here, my impression was pre-1943 tanks would have come in German grey. According to Wikipedia, PzIII, Ausf L's were produced in 1941/42.

According to Wikipedia, the 18th was formed in late 1940. In summer 1941 the 18th took part in the invasion of Russia and in the summer of 1943, at the Battle of Kursk, was disbanded after suffering heavy losses.

Would this indicate that since these Ausf L's were produced before 1943, and for service in Russia, that they would be German Grey?

From the factory, that's probably correct. The exceptions would be any III's that had been in for overhaul/major repairs after Feb. '43 (they would have gotten a repaint), or maybe III's reallocated from those intended for N. Africa.
I'm far from an expert, but the safe bet would be for grey unless you have photo evidence of one that wasn't.

Yes, the 5cm L/60 Pz III (J, then L) were produced up to October 1942, so your options for the factory scheme in winter 1942 are Dunkelgrau or possibly 8000/7008 if from the Tropen production, some of which were allocated to the southern part of the Ostfront. It's not really my subject though, so I don't know what 18.PD received and when.

While one might expect that telling the two apart even in monochrome photos would be easy, I confess that it's far from obvious to me in a lot of them.

I hear you! Sometimes you can get lucky, though, and find a shot that has good contrast, or one where the vehicles are wet.
I'm primarily into aircraft... It's really tough sometimes trying to make out some of those VVS camo jobs in B/W.

Gentlemen,

I admit I have fallen behind in the most up-to-date research. Yet, by this stage of the war, I recall 'pea green' had been introduced in a disruptive 1/3 (green) - 2/3 (gray) scheme; perhaps by autumn '42 (don't completely recall) they added a 2/3 ratio coverage of dark yellow over green/gray.

That yellow-green-gray scheme is my favorite!

Very interesting scheme, Frederick! That would be a bear to attempt to figure out from a B/W pic.
Do you happen to know if it was factory/depot level applied, or was it a unit-level scheme?

I'm not familiar with that scheme. Can you cite a source for it?