Hello, I ran across this photo of a crusader, I think it's a mk III (split turret hatch) with what looks like a 6pdr without the muzzle break or large counterweight and twin Vickers K guns on the turret:

-sorry, still couldn't figure out how to post a photo-

The photo is not very good, but to me it does NOT look like it is painted in desert sand colors, if that is true would it be appropriate to paint it in overall scc 15? I like the Vickers K guns mounted on the turret (never seen that before), and would like to model this vehicle, but have no idea about the color,any help or comments would be appreciated.

I hope someone knows the photo I'm talking about, Thanks - John

I'll try again to post the photo:



Hey it worked!!!

More likely to be SCC2. SCC15 dates from April 1944 and nobody was being issued with Crusader gun tanks by then, so why repaint them?

Uk based Crusaders would have been a green such as SCC 2 as were those in 1st Army in Tunisia. This photo looks to be from Tunisia as there appears to be the Red/White/Red ID stripe on the front of the hull and also on the side stowage bin.
6pdr Crusaders never had a muzzle brake but some (like the one in the wikipedia pic below) did have a counterweight


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Cleaning6pdrGunCrusaderTank1943.jpg

Thanks Robert, do you have an opinion about whether it would be a solid scc2, or as the base of a camouflage pattern? I tried to find some reference photos of a crusader in Europe or maybe Tunisia, but I didn't have much luck, and my head is kind of spinning trying to nail down a color scheme?

Anything that might point me in the right direction and narrow down the possibilities would be very much appreciated.

I can't believe that the tank commander is letting the driver play on his ipad while the other two are punching the bore!

From the photo I can't tell where it was taken but it looks pretty muddy, which doesn't really help. The RAC flash was used in both UK and Tunisia so that doesn't help us either. However, I can't recall seeing the PLM mount in Tunisia (although that's not a campaign in which I have much) and my guess is that it is on trials in the UK. It also has no formation or AoS markings, which is possibly more likely on a trials wagon than one in an operational unit.

SCC2 was a brown and would have been the standard colour when the MK III was produced. I think I see darker patches on the fronts of the trackguards, which might be SCC1a, although interpreting colours from monochrome photos on their own is a challenging task.

Thanks for the help guys! That photo Steve, is the only reference that I could find of a mk III with a color other than sand. Robert, I agree with you about trying to tell the color from a B&W photo (and a bad one at that) but I agree with your assessment that it might be a trials vehicle. With that in mind can anyone point me towards any reference material that would tell me what type of camo pattern might be used for this vehicle, I agree that the scc2 is probably correct, but I am pretty unfamiliar with the british camo patterns and colors (other than the desert ones, of which there is an abundance of reference material.).

The drawings (which illustrate principles rather than vehicle-specific patterns) have been published a few times. Mike Starmer self-publishes a handy guide and you can probably find contact details out there on the www. He has posted on the subject on ML in recent years. His books also contain model paint mixes matched to original chips.

'SCC2 was a brown and would have been the standard colour when the MK III was produced'

Yes. of course, my bad, Robert is entirely correct.

Thank you very much for your time guys, I really appreciate the help!