Airfix 1/35th M3 Stuart

[JackG]

Don't have any of those three paints to help advise, but be aware that both those AK products have their colour matches lightened up for their scale effect theory.

 

regards,

Jack

[Mike Starmer]

I cannot comment on any of those versions of Light Stone as I haven't seen any.  Sovereign Hobbies is a bout the best based on my mix done against an original 1930 swatch in 1980. 

[KRK4m]

On 5/25/2019 at 10:56 PM, Mike Starmer said:

In Egypt in October 1941 Caunter patterning was cancelled in favour of an overall colour of Light Stone No.61.  US vehicles were prepared for desert use at Tel-el-Kebir depot where they would have been painted according to the current regulation, i.e Light Stone overall.  It would appear then that some Brigade workshops undertook to apply a brigade inspired design to all its vehicles.  4th A.B. evidently did so using three colours.  But what might those be?  Basic colour, that applied as issued but what other colours might be available?  Workshops would hold the now surplus and redundant stocks of paint used in the cancelled Caunter design. What were they?  Portland Stone, Slate and Silver Grey.  Why not use those?  I strongly suggest that the top colour on those tanks is Silver Grey.

However there's another 7th Division Grant within the 35276 boxing captioned by MiniArt as T-23505 from El Alamein (November 1942) - BTW the T-24004 commented above is captioned as "Gazala, May 1943" (SIC!).

https://www.mojehobby.pl/products/Grant-Mk.l.html#gallery_start

The main differences are that the white WD serial are not painted on the OD rectangular plate (which suggests some darker shade of base colour) and that there's no RAF roundel on the turret top. If we agree that T-24004 (from Gazala era) is painted Light Stone BS.61 and Silver Grey BS.28 could it be possible that T-23005 (2nd battle of El Alamein) sports Desert Pink Z.I. and Silver Grey? 

On 5/25/2019 at 10:56 PM, Mike Starmer said:

 The other colour specified for use in 1941 was Light Purple Brown which is a slightly brownish dark Maroon shade.   Against Light Stone it has very high contrast and that too fits the contrast seen on images of the Stuarts and Grants in question.  One image I have shows the blotches being applied and one could be excused for believing those  to be black, so dark it is.    Miniart has simple blindly followed the  Vanguard artwork. 

I have no idea how much Light Purple Brown BS.49 was available in Egypt in 1941 but surely there was another shade of brown there - the SCC.1A Dark Brown, which contrasts very strongly against the Light Stone BS.61. Don't you think that either T-24004 or T-23005 could feature the SCC.1A blotches over the Light Stone/Silver Grey camo?

Cheers

Michael

[Mike Starmer]

There may well have been other shades of brown in Base Depot stores but they wouldn't have been any of the SCC. range since these were only just become available in UK.  At the time GHQ Cairo was dependant on paint shipped from UK before the war began.  The authority for stores inventories and the SCC. range, although known about wouldn't have been indented for.  For one factor shipping space had to be considered, paint is heavy stuff too.  Colours used in this theatre were determined by The Camouflage Directorate in the Canal Zone and came from mostly locally i.e. middle east, providers such as Palestine, India and South Africa.   Much later a series of 23 colours titled' Middle East Standard Camouflage Colours' became established some of which bear a resemblance to the SCC. range and others the BS.381 range.  As yet there is no correlation found which determines which, if any of the ranges match.