I am wondering what color France painted their tanks late in WWII. Specifically, I’m looking at the Hotchiss H39s that they sold to Israel under the table, which I assume would be painted in whatever shade of OD they were using at the time.
Thanks!
Michael 
The French did not use OD. Their colours are distinctly green as opposed to the brown that OD is. I believe the colour was ‘Vert Armee’ but pinning that to a specific shade is not simple.
Tamiya XF13 J.A. Green is often cited as a good match for post WW2 colours for Indochina and beyond.
I painted my AMX Chaffee in XF13 with a mix of XF13 and XF58 Olive Green in places.
From my understanding, ‘Vert Armée’ is a more greyish-brownish than greenish color. Shermans purchased from France during the '50s were delievered to Israel in a distinct brownish color.
Here is a VCI, based on the AMX Chassis. The front, the rear and the Quad all seem different colours… the modellers dilemma…
The AMX 13 Chaffee in Algeria 1961: Dark greenish-grey turret, more greenish hull…
Another VCI. Original shade? Who knows…
Michael,
I’ve been wondering about that myself. Some time ago, when I was researching the topic, I came across this article (in Hebrew) written by Michael Maas that you might find interesting. In some of the photos the tanks seem to be painted in a rather dark color, probably the same they were delieverd with (Vert Armée?).
https://yadlashiryon.com/news/20-במארס-2018-פרויקט-מיוחד-הטנקים-של-צהל-במל/
The last one is Belgian so I wouldn’t bet the color is the original French Vert Armée.
Here is a picture of my VAB (command version) when I was young 
and the French army had not shifted to the 3 tone camo yet. This one has a faded color due to weather conditions in Southern France. The shark mouth was a joke from the crew who painted it some days before the new camo would be applied. For some reason our regimental CO did not have the same sense of humor as the crew. 
He ordered the VAB should be cleaned before being camoed.
Olivier
Typical, oh so typical. I wonder what the rivet counters would say about that one!
They never do!!
Ken
Thanks Israel, very interesting!
Michael
Sumptuously! I was thinking about a model of a foreign-made armored vehicle in line with the Soviet BRDM-1/2. And so I found it! I “stole” this photo from you - be offended or rejoice. Do you have any other photos like this?
Unfortunately no. At that time digital cameras didn’t exist so I didn’t shoot as many pictures as I would do today.
Olivier
Here’s a matching .50 Cal. MG turret
H.P.
Oh, thank you very much.
