Field Grey vs. Camo? (1 Viewer)

[jberto18]

Hello dear collectors!

A friend of mine just picked up the FOB Panzer IV, and although I think it is a nice piece, I think it looks drab/bland on a bookshelf. I have always been partial to the unique camouflage patterns, I really think it adds to the vehicle. I know that field grey maybe necessary for the obvious historical accuracy but it would be nice (probably unrealistic) if a price adjustment could be made for the uniformed field grey as opposed to the more complicated camouflage pieces.

 

[wayne556517]

I agree mate the field grey should be cheaper from All manufacturers......................^&grin

 

[Simpson & his donkey.]

I agree mate the field grey should be cheaper from All manufacturers......................^&grin

I second this. Chris.

 

[uksubs]

I agree mate the field grey should be cheaper from All manufacturers......................^&grin

Nice idea but can't see it happening

 

[wayne556517]

Of course it won't im just mucking around mate..................:smile2:

 

[uksubs]

Of course it won't im just mucking around mate..................:smile2:

I know mate :salute::

 

[Mitch]

Interesting premise. Field grey is actually harder to replicate than camo. Ask any decent painter to get a grey AFV looking three dimensional almost in tone and contrast is harder than firing on a tri or double camo pattern on an AFV.

Its only drab and boring when it is done with one standard grey colour and left at that. Factory painting on an industrial nature like we have in the hobby allows no time for the finer points of painting grey with a variety of painting techniques and mediums now available. You get the standard grey and then further down the line a worker has brown, sand or, in some cases black!!! and gives you an interpretation of weathering to take away the blandness

Its always been the way that people are often more attracted to the German camo patterns but, a really good grey AFV for me will always beat a camo one hands down.

Cost wise they should all be cheaper not just grey
Mitch

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Interesting premise. Field grey is actually harder to replicate than camo. Ask any decent painter to get a grey AFV looking three dimensional almost in tone and contrast is harder than firing on a tri or double camo pattern on an AFV.

Its only drab and boring when it is done with one standard grey colour and left at that. Factory painting on an industrial nature like we have in the hobby allows no time for the finer points of painting grey with a variety of painting techniques and mediums now available. You get the standard grey and then further down the line a worker has brown, sand or, in some cases black!!! and gives you an interpretation of weathering to take away the blandness

Its always been the way that people are often more attracted to the German camo patterns but, a really good grey AFV for me will always beat a camo one hands down.

Cost wise they should all be cheaper not just grey
Mitch

I have to agree - a single grey colour with no weathering makes for a dreary model. And in fact, from 1937 - June 1940, German AFVs were NOT plain grey. They were a base coat of Dunkelgrau Nr. 46 (dark gray) , with one-third of the vehicle covered in Dunkelbraun Nr. 45 (dark brown) with feathered edges. On 31 July 1940, to save paint, it was ordered that armor should only be painted Dunkelgrau. This lasted until February 1943 when 3 colour camo with a dark yellow base was factory applied. So the only "grey only" AFVs were in Russia for 2-1/2 years assuming that a disruptive pattern was not applied in the field.

Terry

 

[wayne556517]

I have to agree - a single grey colour with no weathering makes for a dreary model. And in fact, from 1937 - June 1940, German AFVs were NOT plain grey. They were a base coat of Dunkelgrau Nr. 46 (dark gray) , with one-third of the vehicle covered in Dunkelbraun Nr. 45 (dark brown) with feathered edges. On 31 July 1940, to save paint, it was ordered that armor should only be painted Dunkelgrau. This lasted until February 1943 when 3 colour camo with a dark yellow base was factory applied. So the only "grey only" AFVs were in Russia for 2-1/2 years assuming that a disruptive pattern was not applied in the field.

Terry

Nothing worst than a GREY hater...................^&grin

 

[Blowtorch]

They were a base coat of Dunkelgrau Nr. 46 (dark gray) , with one-third of the vehicle covered in Dunkelbraun Nr. 45 (dark brown) with feathered edges.

I remember someone had dug up a British intelligence manual based on observations in in France '40, and it said that the camo pattern was so faint that it could only be observed up to a few feet from the vehicle.

 

[Phantom Warrior]

I remember someone had dug up a British intelligence manual based on observations in in France '40, and it said that the camo pattern was so faint that it could only be observed up to a few feet from the vehicle.

It was a faint pattern, but "a few feet" may have been an exaggeration. Here are two photos of the typical grey/braun pattern used 1937 - mid 1940. And since vehicles were not repainted when the camo became just plain Wayne grey. the grey/braun pattern would have persisted well into 1942.

And here is how dark the plain Grey looked on a just washed vehicle used in a ceremony. Even though it is a single colour, it isn't a uniform grey. Variations of colour are clearly visible..

 

[Blowtorch]

Yeah I know there are pics that show the pattern, but that's what the intel bulletin said. It shouldn't be hard to find. It was first posted on missing lynx around 2009 iirc. It was a document describing what the invader would look like if Britain were invaded in 1940. Maybe with the slightest dusting the pattern starts to disappear which is why so few people believed it at all until this document became known. Matte paint is a dust trap lets not forget

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Yeah I know there are pics that show the pattern, but that's what the intel bulletin said. It shouldn't be hard to find. It was first posted on missing lynx around 2009 iirc. It was a document describing what the invader would look like if Britain were invaded in 1940. Maybe with the slightest dusting the pattern starts to disappear which is why so few people believed it at all until this document became known. Matte paint is a dust trap lets not forget

I don't disagree. The pattern could be obscured by grease and oil trapping dust and almost impossible for black and white photography to capture the pattern. The pattern would have been more visible to colour photography or a person's eye. I don't know of any colour photos from the 1940s.

Terry

 

[Blowtorch]

Two other points after rereading your post, the early brown may not have been the same as the 1940 brown. Been a while since I last studied this.

Also, about the repainting, I'm not too sure about the policy wrt repainting for camo updates, but I'm very sure that repainting would have been done to chipped paint vehicles to prevent corrosion, possibly even as routine maintenance in between the campaigns

 

[Phantom Warrior]

This photo is ascribed to June 22, 1941 - Operation Barbarossa. The colour photo may be the grey-brown camo pattern.

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Here is a photo of a tank transporter in 1939 Berlin with the grey-brown camo. It's near the botoom of the page

http://www.shockblast.net/hugo-jaeger-photography/

Terry

 

[jberto18]

Interesting premise. Field grey is actually harder to replicate than camo. Ask any decent painter to get a grey AFV looking three dimensional almost in tone and contrast is harder than firing on a tri or double camo pattern on an AFV.

Its only drab and boring when it is done with one standard grey colour and left at that. Factory painting on an industrial nature like we have in the hobby allows no time for the finer points of painting grey with a variety of painting techniques and mediums now available. You get the standard grey and then further down the line a worker has brown, sand or, in some cases black!!! and gives you an interpretation of weathering to take away the blandness

Its always been the way that people are often more attracted to the German camo patterns but, a really good grey AFV for me will always beat a camo one hands down.

Cost wise they should all be cheaper not just grey
Mitch

Oh I agree that they should all be cheaper but that discussion could open up a whole can of worms. I see your point about the weathering and different tones - its a shame the manufactured pieces don't allow for that.