How do I make an ambush camo with Tamiya paints? I am going to use it on my 1/16 Tiger 1 early production. The only colors that I think I have close to are red brown, brown, khaki, olive drab, and khaki.
Jack
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Jack I’m not 100% sure but I don’t think the Tiger 1s were painted in that scheme. Tiger IIs were but I think Thigef 1s weren’t in production when that scheme came into use.
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Is there any camo that is close to ambush that tiger 1s had?
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To be accurate for a Tiger 1 and the time period it operated, it will depend somewhat on the version you have (steel wheel vs rubber, etc). The closest you have to the hard edge Ambush Scheme, will be a soft edge tri-colour without the individual contrasting dots, something like this:
and to a lesser degree:
As to Tamiya colours, I find their basic colours do not match well. For example, their Dark Yellow is way too dark. For this reason, I mix my own using these formula:
Dunkelgelb
1 x XF57 + 5 x XF2 + 1 x XF3.
Olivegrun (the darker version, not the late war ‘pea green’)
7 x XF-61 + 3 x XF-60
Rotbruin: (Not the later war ‘chocalate colour’)
4 x XF64 + 1 x XF49
I have heard XF-90 Red Brown is a good match for a darker red-brown and XF-89 Dark Green 2 is okay for Olivegrun, but have not yet tried them myself.
Remember, if you do a wash or filter later you will darken the colours, so it is always better to start with lighter base colours.
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Right. And as Metalhead85 mentioned, Tiger I production ended just as the ambush scheme was authorized.
Tricolor is as close as you’ll get to ambush.
And although I use AK for my camo now, when I was using Tamiya my colors were Dark Yellow, Red Brown (XF-64), and Dark Green (XF-61). Sometimes I would use one of the other browns/greens that were close to give a little variation in color to simulate differences in how the crew diluted the paint paste.
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Ok, thank you, guys! This will help me a lot it currently is a winter camo I did about 2 years ago when I first started airbrushing, I have been wanting to redo it. Peter the middle one you found I think will look best for mine. Should I do some red oxide on the wheels and maybe replace one of the colors with the red oxide?
Jack
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One other thing, right now as it stands the tiger looks like it is fresh out of the factory should I take off a couple of fenders or bend them?
Jack
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I have pics of Tigers that show new wheels but they are usually in the Dunkelgelb base rather than left in primer. That’s not to say a spare wheel still in primer never made it onto a vehicle but I would imagine the repair depots closer to the front would be getting stuff from the factories pre-painted and ready to install.
FOR THE DISCUSSING OF PURPOSES UNBEKNOWNST ONLY
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Ok, thank you, that makes more sense.
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I would not myself. At the time the Tiger 1 was really operational, the vehicles were all painted in RAL colours as per regulations. It was not until later in the war that paint supplies became an issue and vehicles were left with red oxide primer showing as part of the factory applied colour.
As brekinapez has stated, suppliers delivered their product pre painted, either Dunkelgrau initially or Dunkelgelb later (and mostly afterward). A common misconception is that every piece of a tank was manufactured in the same complex. In fact, most components were manufactured in different, and multiple, factories and shipped to where assembly was to take place. It was after assembly that the camo was applied to the base colour.
A good photo to demonstrate the above, is the well known one of the ‘Last Elephant’ tank. Whilst the hull is red oxide primer following assembly, the road wheels and drive sprocket are dunkel gelb:
There is also conjecture that the barrel of the 88mm is still in the heat proof grey primer was the dunkelgelb was not available to the manufacturer.
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Right. You’ll see quite a few photos of recent barrel replacements still in the lacquer coating.
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Ok thank you should I do that on the tiger? By the way, it is a trumpeter model but I made it a r/c tank. So I might not do that much weathering. I think it would be a cool mix of camo with one of those camos you put in Peter. Is the barrel flat black or gloss black?
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I’d go with standard tri colour on the barrel.
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Ok thank you this will turn out well. I will do it on Saturday since I don’t have school on Saturday and Sunday.
I will post pictures of the finished project on this or I can make a constructive feedback topic. what should I do?
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