Hi!

Ive been away from the hobby for a couple of years until I tonight decided to start working on my shelf queen from Takom, the Mark IV Male tank. And of course, I managed to screw up the decals for the German version.

My question is following; are there any options for a British tank besides the flat earth color scheme? I did a quick google search but thought I might as well ask here.

And last, it feels soooo great to be back working on a tank!

I'll have to check, but I should still have the German markings leftover from my build of the Takom Mk.IV If you want them, send me a message with your address. As far as British color schemes go, IIRC, They gave up on fancy camouflage paint jobs 'cause everything ended up covered in mud, making those fancy schemes redundant. Al

Here are some camo examples (the males are on top, if I may say so...) :



Full size

Can't vouch for the schemes accuracy though...

Talking about the khaki brown camo option, the Mark IV male "Lodestar III" at the Brussels museum is still in its original colors :



H.P.

Thanks so much for all the help!
Right now it seems like Im gonna go for a khaki Brown scheme with the white and red stripes.

MkIVs were either plain green or, later, plain brown. The Solomon multi-colour schemes were only used on the Mk1. The white-red-white stripes were only introduced after Beute tanks began to be encountered (late 1917??). Until that time any and every tank was British.

Yes, Lodestar is believed to be the last remaining genuine unpainted unrestored Mk I - V tank. IIRC the only other known sample is the large factory model of the Mk VIII at Bovington. Although both paints are now 100 years old, they both show a lot of tonal variation. I tried to replicate that by using a dark brown primer and varying the lighter brown paint thickness in vertical motions with my airbrush. Still a WIP.

Good luck with the stripe masking: I had no end of trouble getting tape to adhere over the detail, and I tried several brands. It still bled. I used liquid mask over the completed stripes when I painted the rest of the tank.

I've got a couple of sets of the German markings spare too. Peddinghaus does a set of Beute MkIV markings, 3106, but it's quite expensive. I have my set logged at £14.

Takom MK IV can't be done OOTB as a German MKl Landship because all of them had new Nordenfelt guns with different shield and sponsons' plate. MR Modellbau makes a conversion

https://www.mrmodellbau.com/_shop/product_info.php?products_id=740&MODsid=00b933a82f3f2928b087ddf82d8d1911

There is a lot of debate on British WW1 tank colours. The brown scheme was definitely used but there is a lot of discussion about exactly what shade of brown it was. The green is thought to have been mainly used back in Britain on training tanks, but the odd one may have got to France still in the colour. the multicoloured camo patterns were quickly abandoned as they became quickly dull by dust or mud.