We have so many photos from Tunisia that we can follow some of the Tigers from Italy to their final destruction.

It's clear that, though they got dusty, they didn't get repainted.

David

Here's a Tiger I in original paint at Aberdeen - what color does it look to you?

The color looks lifeless. If you look at the grass it's just wrong. Can't tell what time of year it is hot summer but probably not due to the sweater. But even when grass is dried out due to seasons it still has some green to it and the browns aren't so dead and dark looking but are quite a bit lighter, and brighter.

What this would do to the color on the tank, couldn't tell you. I could make it greener or grey.

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The color looks lifeless. If you look at the grass it's just wrong. Can't tell what time of year it is hot summer but probably not due to the sweater. But even when grass is dried out due to seasons it still has some green to it and the browns aren't so dead and dark looking but are quite a bit lighter, and brighter.

What this would do to the color on the tank, couldn't tell you. I could make it greener or grey.

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No doubt the color balance of the photo is a bit off and the colors appear cold, or what you call "lifeless."

But you can still tell just how faded out the paintwork on the Tiger is.

I was just looking at the photo again and the guy's clothing/haircut and I'm wondering. Maybe from the 1960s?

If so, that's still a long time for the tank to be sitting out under the sun, and therefore, I wouldn't put much stock into the degree of fading.

As noted, and having been there a few times, it is quite obvious the US government didn't spend 5 minutes thinking about "historical preservation" in its operations at the Aberdeen proving grounds. I guess that makes sense. Initially there was still a war on and they had a job to do--learn about enemy equipment and conduct tests.

No one was thinking of an initial Afrika Tiger I as a priceless historical object at that time.

What a shame! Too bad!

Matt, as a former professional photographer, let me state a couple of facts:

1. Color rendition is dependent on the quality of the camera glass. I paid primo dinaro back in the day for special lenses with sophisticated rare earth elements, like flourite etc. that would render color more realistically. Your consumer camera isn't a reliable witness;

2. Film "emulsions" color shift over time (ever notice an add or photo in a store window and how it shifts to blue as the sun washes out the inks?). This looks like an "antique" image to me, but I have been wrong before and will be wrong again.

3. Digitizing a photo may change the color balance.

As with others, I will defer to David's expert opinion on this. We don't even know if that tank is actually in its real birthday suit and wasn't restored or repainted. Without a "chain of custody," we could be looking at something post-war.