I am trying to paint Amuding hobby’s conqueror tank with vallejo’s british Bronze Green spray. the color looks decidedly more panzer gray than any green. color photos of british tanks from late 1960s seem decidedly more green than that. anyone have any experience with this?
Vallejo ‘Deep Bronze’ is not ‘Deep Bronze Green’, neither is their ‘Deep Green’.
You need a colour the equivalent of BS 381 c No. 224
I’d suggest you do your own Tamiya Mix:
Tamiya: 8 x XF5 + 5 X XF63
This is 1:1 scale, so maybe lighten it a shade if you want scale effect…
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I can highly recommend AK Real Colors RC264 Bronze Green. Everything you ever wanted for British Bronze Green all in one bottle.
Hey Chuck I have the super conquerer from amusing hobby - how was the build ?
Chaps, whatever you use don’t forget that British Army Deep Bronze Green was of a high gloss finish - with all the tactical limitations that went with it. In the field it was allowed to get pretty dirty and of course, camouflage nets were frequently draped over the vehicle and foliage added.
I still use enamels mostly and would recommend Revell Enamel No 65 “Bronze Green”; however, it is matt so will require a gloss varnish or whatever you deem appropriate factoring in scale colour/scale shine even.
I’ve used it on my venerable Dragon Conq (below - though not a good enough pic really), and for my Charioteer project (which shows the colour a little better):
Sorry for the same old, same old, but I really haven’t built anything recently in such a colour scheme.
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Excellent work there Brian. Love those figures you did and the vehicles as well. Really great job!
Never realized that Brian.
I’ve never used a gloss coat on any AFV I’ve ever done except a handful of times I used it for decal applications, so that would be very weird for me. Can one use a semi gloss coat do you think ? I haven’t thought about what kind of weathering yet as I haven’t built it yet. I’m sure I’d dust it up a little as I always weather my vehicles.
Richard, I suspect a semi-gloss would work but if it were me I’d probably experiment first, say, on a piece of painted plastic card.
To get an idea of Bronze Green in action as it were, you might like to see this particular cheery piece from way back when; note how glossy the finish is (also the camouflaged tank suits). The antennae are also painted in stripes which was/is a fairly common practice to break up the outline:
vide showing british army saladin - Google Search
Here’s a similar type of film showing Conqueror and others in Bronze Green - all inspirational (I was present at this one as a child!):
Tanks In Action (1961) - YouTube
This one should also help you deduce the degree of shine you wish to replicate - and a bit of weathering perhaps?
Conversely, there are plenty of pics of Conqueror in a matt finish; I presume this would have been the earlier WW2 SCC colour, but certainly during the time (of Conqueror) BAOR was remarkably proactive with camouflage schemes - ahead of the game really.
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For scale models, full gloss can sometimes be too much. I prefer somewhere between gloss and satin… as Brian says experiment a bit.
Goes together well but there are a few issues and inaccuracies. I did one for the Build a Photo group build - scroll through from here:
The ‘Super Conqueror’ as a production vehicle never existed. The up armour was added to one static vehicle for ballstics testing only. If you want a ‘What if’ build, then accuracy doesn’t matter…
So did you make it into the video?
Ken
Thankfully not.
I was gonna ask if you were one of those kids rushing up to the vehicle lol.
As I recall it was a school trip; back then the Armed Forces were seen as quite respectable future employers. National Service (conscription) was just about coming to an end and the Army - probably glad to shed itself of the responsibility and the endless drain on resources - was busily reinventing itself with such recruiting slogans as “Join the Army and see the World”, or “Join the Professionals” and perhaps inevitably, “Join the New Regular Army - a real man’s life” - as indeed it was, more or less; anyway, all powerful stuff to young schoolboys.
I think this particular event was on a Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday were given up to the general public, and in later years these events were known as “RAC Battle Days”, located in Bovington Camp in the county of Dorset - which to us boys living in neighbouring Wiltshire, still seemed to be the other side of the world. Of course, being based in Wiltshire, close to the nearby garrisons and camps that surround the main Army training grounds of Salisbury Plain, we benefited from other displays as well, which took place regularly every year and must have been fruitful for the Army’s recruiters. I attended firepower displays at the then School of Artillery at Larkhill (culminating in the awe-inspiring launch of an Honest John rocket), mock battles at Middle Wallop (Army Aviation) and the magnificent tattoo at Tidworth Garrison which took place on the polo grounds.
On Saturday mornings in my nearby local town, I would often be seen with my nose pressed up against the steamy windows of the Army Careers Office, studying the posters and displays, some of which were large scale models of AFVs and other equipments.
No wonder I joined up at 15!
Sorry folks - all a long way from Bronze Green; 'need to get back on track I suspect (pun intended).
Wow! They let you do that?
Ken
Oh yeah! Back then REME Junior Apprentices could even join at 14! Hitler Youth? Been there, done that.
See:
Wow that always amazes me. I signed up at 17 with my parents having to sign for me.
Don’t get me wrong - it wasn’t like joining the Foreign Legion; my parents had to sign me away as it were, so there were some checks and balances, but I’d always said I’d wanted to be a soldier so they sort of accepted it. To be honest, way back then, my parents weren’t particularly interested in me as such, and I was far from unique. In a way, what better place for a teenager?
The employment opportunities back then weren’t exactly brilliant: I could (as I was seen as bright enough apparently) go on to further education at a Grammar School, work at a building site, a local light industry factory and that was about that. I came from a small, stifling Wiltshire village and the nearby town (Salisbury) wasn’t exactly beckoning with adult thrills and experiences. In a way the Army was the only option to break free. What I hadn’t factored in was the amount of further education I’d be undergoing in the Army but that’s another story.
I found subsequently there were plenty others (within the battalion) that came from broken homes, single-parented families, and even several orphans. Without doubt we all found a structure (fairly rigid!) and I’m sure it turned more than one boy around. I didn’t need perhaps turning around but it wasn’t for the faint-hearted that’s for sure. I found out years later than my maternal grandmother (a fearsome old biddy albeit kind to us kids) opined that she didn’t think I’d survive in the Army as “I wasn’t rough enough". She may have been right!
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Hi, It’s a pretty easy build. the kit goes together somewhat like a AFV club kit. the molding quality is good, maybe similar to Meng.
Thanks Chuck. Can’t wait to see yours painted up.