Soviet Red Army Camouflage Patterns of World War Two, 1939–1945
Soviet T-70 light tank, based on earlier T-40, and T-60 light tanks. The vehicle was up-armoured, and up-gunned to keep pace with German armour developments, but it was soon found that the T-34 medium tank was fast, and manœuvrable enough to take on the T-70’s reconnaissance role. As T-34 production increased, the T-70 was withdrawn from Soviet tank brigades, though it continued to serve in other formations, particularly with Soviet allies. The Wehrmacht also used many captured T-70 tanks in the reconnaissance role. The model is a 1:76 US Casts resin kit from the collection of Patrick Storto.
AER, a Moldavian manufacturer of 1:72 scale Soviet vehicles, recommends Humbrol 114 Russian Green as the closest match for Russian green. AER box illustrations show a ZIS-5 truck with approximately 80 % winter whitewash over a Russian green base. Another variant has broad diagonal bands of Humbrol № 29 dark earth over the same Russian green base. Wheel rims are painted Russian green.
Broad diagonal bands of matt dark earth covering 50 % of the vehicle body, leaving broad bands of the Russian green base colour. Recommended for ZIS-5 and ZIS-5.V trucks produced by AER of Moldavia.
Russian Green & White Disruptive Pattern
Colour Designation
Humbrol
Model-Master*
Tamiya*
Gunze*
Pactra*
Vallejo*
Matt Russian Green
114
WP7832
–
–
–
70.894
Matt White
34*
E 0053
XF-2
H11
A47
951
Broad diagonal bands of matt white covering 80 % of the vehicle body, leaving narrow stripes of the Russian green base colour. Recommended for ZIS-5 and ZIS-5.V trucks produced by AER of Moldavia.
Three-colour camouflage pattern recommended by the Ukrainian firm SKIF who produce the 57 mm ZIS-2 anti-tank gun and 76 mm ZIS-3 divisional gun in 1:72 scale.
Winter Camouflage
Colour Designation
Humbrol
Model-Master*
Tamiya*
Gunze*
Pactra*
Vallejo*
Matt Russian Green
114
WP7832
–
–
–
70.894
Matt White
34*
E 0053
XF-2
H11
A47
951
Vehicle painted white or simply whitewashed over a Russian green base coat. Whitewash and white paint would rub off with use, revealing the base coat. Road wheels would be painted white, but the lower hull sides inside the running gear might have been left unpainted on occasion. Please refer to our article on Winter Paint Schemes for a step-by-step painting guide.
Original paint seen on British lend-lease vehicles, like Matilda, Valentine, and Churchill tanks or Universal carriers.
Lend-Lease Federal Standard Olive Drab
Colour Designation
Humbrol
Model-Master*
Tamiya*
Gunze*
Pactra*
Vallejo*
Olive Drab FS 34087
155
E 7873
–
H304
A30
887
Original paint seen on American lend-lease vehicles, like Stuart, and Sherman tanks, Jeeps, trucks, and White scout cars.
* Acrylic paint.
Scale Colour – Aerial Perspective
A paint chip taken from a historic armoured vehicle may very well be the same Olive Drab or panzer grey colour which the hobbyist can purchase from Revell and Humbrol today, but it would be a mistake to paint 1:72 scale models in this way. When viewed from a distance, the actual vehicle exposed to sunlight will appear much lighter than a small model painted in the same colour. Dust settling on the vehicle can highlight the overall colour even further, sometimes completely obliterating the camouflage effect and making it impossible to hide the vehicle against the dark background of a treeline or forest.
Aerial Perspective allows the model builder to simulate this effect. The authentic base colour is used as an undercoat, preferably sprayed on, to speed up the painting process. The undercoat should be left to dry before additional paint is applied. Mix the base colour with white to highlight it and then drybrush it onto the vehicle. The raised surfaces of the model will pick up the highlight just like the real vehicle picks up sunlight. Viewed next to each other, at the appropriate scale distance, of course, both vehicles will appear to be the same size and their overall colour should be similar, depending on the intensity of natural lighting the modeller wishes to recreate. Drybrushing can be done in several layers, using more white each time. A final layer of dust grey can be applied to simulate the cumulative effect which a dusty road march would have on the vehicle and its crew.
