British tanks Europe 1944 and on

[lekw]

Was wondering what paint people use for 6mm GHQ tanks in Europe from 44 on? Regular Bronze green came out a bit dark for me? Thanks!!!

[lekw]

Sorry about the multiple posts. Can a moderator please delete the others? Sorry again.

[pmskaar]

Hi Lekw!

I painted a few British vehicles for NW Europe about 20 years ago including a Sherman Squadron and some other miscellaneous vehicles.

A question for you - What brand paints are you using? I have been using almost all Humbrol enamels since starting painting micro armor back in the late 1980s - 1990s. Their Bronze Green is really dark and is really deep bronze green which is the darker green that they used as the camo color over the medium bronze green early in the war.

I have used Humbrol #159 Khaki Drab for the vehicles I have done but I am not absolutely sure it is the right color. I will do more research and maybe share some photos soon.

Pete

[panzergator]

I thought Humbrol got out of the business. Way back in the '80s, that's all I would use, but I don't see the brand in hobby shops out here.

[StarCruiser]

Very much still around:

https://www.hornbyhobbies.com/shop/paint

Not sure if it's as good as it was. Formula has been revised to reduce "MEKO" but, Hornby still sells the stuff.

[Cav Dog]

Humbrol enamels, sprays and acrylics are relatively plentiful in most US hobby shops, as well online through Michigan Toy Soldier, Megahobby etc. The enamel tinlets last a surprising amount of time. I have some over 20 years old that once given a thorough mixing apply smoothly and look as good as ever.once dry. They do take a good 24 hours to really dry though.

[lekw]

Thank you so much all!!! I will try the humbrol enamels. All the best.

[pmskaar]

Hi Lekw

Here are a couple pictures of my British Shermans for NW Europe painted back in 2005 using Humbrol #159 Khaki Drab lightened with a bit of #34 Matte White.

[panzergator]

VERY NICE, PETE!

[redleg]

Those look awesome Pete!

[foxbat]

These Shermans are splendid!
I see you're using a wash, which is also an important part of the way models turn out. What are you washing your models with?

[Hoth_902]

Cav Dog,

I am slowly transitioning to Humbrol, mainly because of seeing Pete's work. With that said, I have a question. How the H E Double L do you keep them for 20 years. I bought a batch about a year or so ago. I used them, sealed them up and when I opened them, they were drying up.. I thought I had put the paint pot lid back on pretty tights.

[Hoth_902]

O and Pete, Amazing work... Thanks for putting the color and the Humbrol number. I have some Shermans that will need to be painted at some point and I love the color you used.

[pmskaar]

Thank you all very much, Panzergator, Redleg, Foxbat, and Hoth! I appreciate it.

I painted these Shermans back in 2005. I entered them in the Historicon painting competition where they took 1st Place in their category.

I used Humbrol #159 Khaki Drab as the base color lightened with a bit of #34 Matte White. The decals for the tactical marking are by GHQ but should be yellow and they were yellow but somewhere in the Dullcoat and final baking process the decals turned white. At some point I might apply new decals to fix this.

Foxbat, the wash is a turpentine based very dark brown almost black wash. This is a mix of artist's turpentine and #98 Chocolate Brown and #33 Matte Black. GHQ's original formula was 1/7 paint to turpentine for the uppers and a 1/4 ratio for the suspension area.

Hoth, I have the same issue with the new Humbrols. Once I open a tin, I have to use it within a few weeks or else it does dry. Typically a hard film develops on top but if you poke that with the wooden end of a brush, the paint underneath is usually fine for a while. In the old days, Humbrols used to last for years and on one of my GHQ painting projects, I used a bottle of premixed color for my airbrush that was 14 years old and it worked fine. These days I can't get away with that so only mix for airbrushing what I will be using right away.