Alright, this might end up being kid of a "rant", but stick with me. Why is it so hard to find what color to use for a certain tank?

I'm getting started in the hobby and I'm looking to place a big order from scalehobbyist.com to cover all my bases. No local hobby shops so I'm relying heavily on web sites and I don't want to get gouged on shipping and handling, so I'm buying like 2 or 3 bottles at once. In that order I was going to throw in a Cromwell MkIV Cruiser Tank by Tamiya (TAM 35221). Even looking at the instructions online doesn't tell me what Tamiya paint to use. That blows my mind.

I'm getting a bunch of Tamiya olive drab to cover everything American from WWII through the cold war. German grey and dark yellow for all my panzers. Everything else is unclear.

The bottom line is I'm an anal guy that just wants to be told in black and white what color I'm supposed to paint tank "X". Is there a site out there that has a chart or just lists out what colors are acceptable for particular tanks? Like an AMX-13 can be painted Tamiya XF-whatever or Vallejo you name it.

To anyone who read all that, sorry.

Thanks for any help.

Adam

Don't know about a general database, but for the Cromwell, these are the color callouts:

http://www.model-making.eu/products/British-Cruiser-Tank-Mk.VIII-A27M-Cromwell-Mk.IV.html

I can understand your frustration if trying to order everything online at one time.

well Adam...the correct colour for any tank is usually subject of debate on forums. Most real tank colours do not have an exact match when it comes to model paints, and then you have issues with the scale effect as well. Best thing to do is google something like "paint for Cromwell Tamiya" and you'll end up on some forum where a modeller has found a decent mix of paints. Sometimes you can buy specific paints sets like the ones from Vallejo, but those get a fair amount of criticism as well sometimes. If you actually find the colour the kit manufacturer advises, it does not always mean this is the correct colour to paint a tank accurately. Especially with Tamiya paints, they have a very limited range. This is even worse for ship model kits. It seems that when it comes to Tamiya paints every navy in the world painted their ships in only 2 colours: Dark Sea Greay and Light Sea grey......

I place large orders with scalehobbyist also. So what I normally do is figure out what my next 3-4 kits are that I'm going to build. I'll research other people's builds and see what colors they use and then I'll place my order along with the appropriate washes, filters and pigments. Or if I see some products that people are using that I like, I'll write those down and then order them with my next big order. I also try to order paints and wash/weathering sets. It pretty much covers the bases and they are labeled for what they coincide with.

I have this kit as well. I am going with the Model Master RAF Dark Green color- and I may do some pre shading with olive drab.. My research got me frustrated- as it seems the British used a variant of Olive Drab that was more drab/brown and green than olive. There is a mix ratio in the kit instructions- and usually Tamiya paints mix well with each other. As stated previously- there are several factors- so take that into account in trying to match up a color.

You might try over at the CYBERMODELER site- They have a regular section that is devoted to COLOR SCHEMES of Aircraft, Military Vehicles and Ships, which is under "SUBJECT & COLOR REFS"...

Give it a try, it couldn't hurt...

http://www.paint4models.com/

I feel your pain, and gave up trying long time ago trying to match "exact shades" to particular armored vehicles. I came down to this:

Tamiya or Model Master OD or green for US and most NATO vehicles, Tamiya or Model Master greys and yellows for German, just to make it simple. But for British tanks-- I use Humbrol Bronze Green-- its the best British basecoat I could find. Everything else can be mixed for the right shades-- Humbrol seems to be right on for UK vehicles.
VR, Russ

How about this:
http://www.mafva.net/other%20pages/starmer%20camo.htm

Mike has been researching the subject for years and I'd therefore regard his mixes as pretty reliable.

If you want non-enamel versions, try these (table formatting has gone to pot when I copied it but read across as columns being actual colour name, actual colour description, Tamiya mix, comments):
SCC15 Standard colour green Normandy onwards 5 pts XF81 +1 pt XF58 + 1 pt 71 5pts XF61 + 2pts XF62 + 2pts XF3
Desert Pink: Alamein to Tunisia only. LRDG 5 pts XF2 + 5 pts XF15 + 1 pt XF52 Easy on XF52, or will be too mauve. Add white
BS 64 Portland Stone – lightest Caunter colour 6 pts XF2 + 1 pt XF3 + 1 pt XF57 Fraction more XF2 and perhaps a tad less XF57
BS 61 Light Stone – light Caunter colour 7 pts XF2 + 2 pts XF59 + 2 pts XF3
BS 28 Silver Grey – middle Caunter colour 7 pts XF21 + 1 pt XF19 +1 pt XF4 Careful – too much XF-4 will make it too green
BS 34 Slate – darkest Caunter colour 1 pt XF24 + 1 pt XF4 A touch of white or light grey will tone it down



SCC1A Dark brown: disruptive, replaced by black 7 pts XF10 + 2 pts XF1 + touch of grey Vallejo 5 pts 822 + 1 pt 871
SCC2 Brown, mid-war basic colour 4 pts XF2 + 5 pts XF68 + 1 pt XF1 Humbrol enamel: 5 pts 98 + 4 pts 29
Vallejo: 3 pts 871 + 2 pts 873
Light Mud: Tunisia and Italy 4 pts XF55 + 2 pts XF49 + 1 pt XF66 It could take up to another 1/2 pt of XF55
Black NATO black
SCC 13 Jungle Green: Burma etc. 2 pts XF51 + 1 pt XF61 + 1 pt XF3
SCC 7 Green: for use on tilts, over natural canvas 1 pt XF62 + 1 pt XF67 + 1 pt XF3 A tweak more XF3 is not bad
G3 Nobels Khaki Green No.3: basic clour 1939 - 41 3 pts XF62 + 2 pts XF59.
G4 Dark Green: disrupter over G3 3 pts XF61 + 2 pts XF58 Vallejo: equal parts 70888 [92] + 70924 [094]
No.4 Dark Tarmac – disruptive colour on G3 1 pt XF24 + 1 pt XF69

To complicate things farther, the British used several different colors to paint their AFVs. While many say this was due to shortages of supplies, I am convinced that this was done specifically to annoy modelers in the future.

As did the Germans, although it doesn't seem to have deterred modellers from trying to depict their kit.

The Starmer article to which I linked details the various schemes and the dates when they were applied (obviously some survived in use after officially superseded).