Which green for a Cromwell. Noob to armour!

[Rick Brown]

Chaps.

Just about to paint mye Airfix 1/76 Cromwell and was wondering what green I should use.

I've been using Tamiya Olive Drab, but it looks wrong. Too dark, not enough yellow maybe?

I'll be popping up Hobbit Craft later, so a Humbrol/Tamiya colour would be best.

Cheers,

Rick.

[Rob G]

Hey Rick,

This may help - Tamiya's mix for their 35th scale version is about 2/3 of the way down, with a single colour suggestion given. A quick check with the IPMS Stockholm colour charts reveals that I can't cross-ref it for you.

But at least it's a start...

http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/tam/kit_tam_35221.shtml

And some more digging (because I'm like that) gives THIS gem. With Humbrol mixes. I'm thinking that it may add to the confusion though.

http://www.mafva.net/other%20pages/Starmer%20camo.htm

Edited December 27, 2014 by Rob G

[Rick Brown]

Thanks Rob.

I've dug in the stash and found a Tamiya 1/48th Cromwell and this calls out XF61.

I may have that, if not, I can get it today.

That article about the 1/35th Cromwell mentions using basic RAF green from Xtracolor. I do have their Xtracrylix RAF green, so I'll check that too.

Cheers,

Rick.

[StephenMG]

Tamiya also do a XF-74 Olive Drab which I'm told is a little lighter than their XF-62 Olive Drab. I'm going to give that a go on the 1/35 Cromwell I'm about to start painting.

I'm a lazy sod so really can't be bothered mixing anything to be honest!!! If I can find something straight from a Tamiya bottle that looks OK to me then I'll go with that!

[Rick Brown]

Just been doing a little testing and I've found Vallejo 70892 YELLOW OLIVE doesn't look too bad.

I'll give that a go.

Rick.

[DavidJ]

Rick

Cromwells were painted SCC15, the UK equivalent to the USA Olive Drab. With Tamiya acrylics, a mix of 5 parts XF81 + 1 part XF58 + 1 part XF71 should be pretty close to SCC15. If you use Vallejo acrylics, a 1:1 mix of 924 and 888 will do the job..

Cheers

David

[Rick Brown]

Rick

Cromwells were painted SCC15, the UK equivalent to the USA Olive Drab. With Tamiya acrylics, a mix of 5 parts XF81 + 1 part XF58 + 1 part XF71 should be pretty close to SCC15. If you use Vallejo acrylics, a 1:1 mix of 924 and 888 will do the job..

Cheers

David

My goodness, what a mix!

Thanks David, I may just go with the Vallejo option I already have.

Mind you, the Cromwell's gone to the back of the naughty cupboard.

I do have a rather nice Tamiya 1/48th one in stock.

Rick.

[IanC]

Hey Rick

You could try good old Humbrol 155. Nice and light, and to my eye suitable for 1/76.

And with an oil wash, it darkens up a bit anyway.

Ian

[steveinns]

Hi Rick,

Another Vallejo option is Russian uniform green. I was recommended this colour by Mike Hickling formerly of AB figures.

[Mike Starmer]

Humbrol 155 is far too light and brown for SCC.15. The Vallejo and Tamiya mixes are those I formulated some 2 years ago against the standard swatch in B.S.987C issued in 1942 as 'Camouflage Colours'. This booklet contained 11, later 14, swatches of standard colours for all camouflage purposes on vehicles, miliitary installations and civilian buildings of importance. The colours in this document are refered to in ACIs and other instructions as shade No. xx.

[atcampos1]

Hello chaps,

As per Mark Hayward's excellent book "Sherman Firefly" (Barbarossa Books - ISBN 0-9538777-2-8) - page 205, all British tanks were painted in standard British late-war colours from June 6th onwards.

The closest options for the No. 15 Khaki Drab green are:

1) Xtracolors X816 British Khaki Drab;

2) Humbrol 159 Khaki Drab - this is the best option in my opinion;

3) Tamiya XF51 Khaki Drab.

He also mentioned Humbrol 163 as an option, but it seems "too green" for me.

Mr. Paul Woodman recommends 80% of Humbrol 159 + 20% Humbrol 33 (black) so it is up to you.

Hope this helps.

Best regards from the Southern corner of the World,

Alex Triffoni.

Edited January 11, 2015 by atcampos1

[Doug Rogers]

Glad you brought this up Rick, going to be starting on the painting on my 1/35 Cromwell soon in the Panzer GB. Think on balance I'll go for Humbrol 163 as I do 'feel' a Cromwell should be greener rather than khaki. Although I have got 155 as well so maybe a drop or two in the mix.

I guess by the time it's covered in dust and dirt it's relatively academic, that's the good thing with armour.

[davidelvy]

Think on balance I'll go for Humbrol 163 as I do 'feel' a Cromwell should be greener rather than khaki.

The name of the colour is quite confusing as originally Khaki meant soil-coloured, so one might expect a dull shade of brown. I bought the Xtracrylix interpretation of the colour and it is very much a green. What is more, I understand that the colour remained green in use, rather than fading to brown like the US colour it was copying.

By way of more general discussion, it seems to me that khaki is one of those words that has effectively lost its meaning in popular use as I regularly hear it applied to modern military uniforms which are obviously green and not brown.

[Doug Rogers]

Out of interest Rick, which colour to Airfix suggest on the instructions?

[Stuart Wilson]

I've always used Humbrol Khaki Drab 159 with 1ml of Matt Black 33 mixed in, looks ok to me. However that was for 1/35. in 1/76 you might want to omit the black.

Stuart

[Rick Brown]

Out of interest Rick, which colour to Airfix suggest on the instructions?

It's 159, Khaki drab.

Rick.

[Dave Fleming]

In the Starter set they give you a little pot of acrylic 159 - unfortunately they don't do it in the main acrylic range, so if you run out it's back to the enamel (Which seems to be a different shade!)

The enamel does look close to PC10 though......

[Step]

I tried MIG 112 seems a pretty good match may need lightening a touch for 1/76 though.

[Shermaniac]

My goodness, what a mix!

Thanks David, I may just go with the Vallejo option I already have.

Mind you, the Cromwell's gone to the back of the naughty cupboard.

I do have a rather nice Tamiya 1/48th one in stock.

Rick.

The Vallejo mix for the SCC15 is 70.888 Olive Grey & 70.924 Russian Uniform WWII mixed in equal parts.

I formulated this a few years ago and have confirmed this with Mike Starmer (British colour Guru)

[Rick Brown]

The Vallejo mix for the SCC15 is 70.888 Olive Grey & 70.924 Russian Uniform WWII mixed in equal parts.

I formulated this a few years ago and have confirmed this with Mike Starmer (British colour Guru)

This I can do easily.

Cheers.

[Shermaniac]

This I can do easily.

Cheers.

Exactly.

And, if you lay the colour down over a light grey undercoat, at 1/76th it should tone quite well with the small scale.

Use a medium grey for 1/48th and a dark grey or black for 1/35th

You'll be surprised at thye outcome.

[Ozzy]

Don't know if this is of any assistance? I paint all my british armour in Tamiya's XF 67 NATO green, it looks a little bright at first, but with a bit of weathering looks pretty good I think. I find that olive drab is a little to dark. I've added a photo, as a picture paints a 1,000 words.

Ozzy

[Shermaniac]

Here is what SCC15 looks like on a 1/35th scale Churchill

[SleeperService]

Be very careful when comparing photos. The Churchill above is exposed more than the Sherman (look at the crew figures).

The mix Shermaniac refers to is a match for the real colour so needs to be knocked back with some light grey to look right on a scale model. When i did 76 scale I used between 10% and 20% depending on the general condition of the vehicle. I'd suggest mixing a tiny amount and brushing it out on a grey base to see what you think.

[Tarheellaw]

Not bronze green? Humbrol 75?