To clear some shelf space I threw together the old Tamiya 1/35 Matilda tank last night, straight OOB (yes, I know, I know). I'm very close to the painting stage and suddenly realized I really have no clue what color to use for an 8th Army in North Africa vehicle.

Suggestions?

The Matildas always seem to be in a desert sand color. I built one years ago that showed a light blue camo scheme with the desert sand that turned out pretty nice

Hi Mark

I just finished the very same kit , I went with an all over monotone sand colour (Humbrol Desert Yellow as a base coat ).
But as David pointed out , there where a few different cammo schemes used in N Africa , if you do a google or yahoo search there are some good photos out there

Heres my fnished Matilda in its desert colours ...



Ian

Check through the pages on British camouflage colours here

MAFVA

and avoid the sky blue used on the IWM Matilda!

The MAFVA site has several pages of notes on British camouflage practice in World War Two, with color matches for model paints (or mixes, where matched colors aren't available).

Here's a recent thread form M/L. In it, Mike Starmer( who wrote the MAFVA notes) states that the silver grey often shown as blue should be more like the RAF Sky shade.

British desert colours