Warsaw Pact Vehicle Camouflage Patterns of the Cold War, 1949–1990

Warsaw Pact Vehicle Camouflage Patterns of the Cold War, 1949–1990.

BTR-152.K and BTR-155 armoured personnel carriers painted Russian green.

Two-Colour Disruptive Pattern

Colour Designation Humbrol Model-Master* Tamiya* Gunze* Pactra* Vallejo*
Light Olive, FS 34102 86 H303 A33 890
Pale Stone, FS 33531 121 H313 847
Light olive base colour with pale stone disruptive stripes. ESCI recommended this pattern for the T-62 MBT kit № 8340.

Three-Colour Disruptive Pattern

Colour Designation Humbrol Model-Master* Tamiya* Gunze* Pactra* Vallejo*
Bronze Green, RAL 6031 75 70.897
Blue Grey
This colour needs to be mixed from 75 % grey, 20 % white, and 5 % blue.
Brick Red 70 940
Revell suggests this three-colour pattern for T-80.BV tanks of the Special Guard Motor Rifle Brigade "Berlinskaja", stationed at WGT Berlin-Karlshorst in 1994.

T-80.BV 1989

Colour Designation Humbrol Model-Master* Tamiya* Gunze* Pactra* Vallejo*
Bronze Green + Leather Brown
Revell recommends this mixed colour for T-80.BV tanks of the Soviet 211th Armoured Regt, and the Soviet 79th Guard Armoured Division "Saporoschskaja" stationed at GSTD Jena in 1989. The colour consists of 75 % Bronze Green RAL 6031 and 25 % RAL 8027 Leather Brown.

Russian Green

Colour Designation Humbrol Model-Master* Tamiya* Gunze* Pactra* Vallejo*
Matt Russian Green 114 WP7832 70.894
MAC Automodelle suggest this base colour for the BTR-152 armoured personnel carrier. Apparently, Humbrol 117 is a better match. The original colour darkens with age, and a equal mix of Humbrol 117 with Humbrol 116 may emulate this process.

Olive Drab

Colour Designation Humbrol Model-Master* Tamiya* Gunze* Pactra* Vallejo*
Olive Drab, FS 34087 155 H304 887
OMEGA-K suggest this base colour for the ZIS-157 truck.

* Acrylic paint.

Scale Colour – Aerial Perspective

A paint chip taken from a historic armoured vehicle may very well be the same Olive Drab or panzer grey colour which the hobbyist can purchase from Revell and Humbrol today, but it would be a mistake to paint 1:72 scale models in this way. When viewed from a distance, the actual vehicle exposed to sunlight will appear much lighter than a small model painted in the same colour. Dust settling on the vehicle can highlight the overall colour even further, sometimes completely obliterating the camouflage effect and making it impossible to hide the vehicle against the dark background of a treeline or forest.

Aerial Perspective allows the model builder to simulate this effect. The authentic base colour is used as an undercoat, preferably sprayed on, to speed up the painting process. The undercoat should be left to dry before additional paint is applied. Mix the base colour with white to highlight it and then drybrush it onto the vehicle. The raised surfaces of the model will pick up the highlight just like the real vehicle picks up sunlight. Viewed next to each other, at the appropriate scale distance, of course, both vehicles will appear to be the same size and their overall colour should be similar, depending on the intensity of natural lighting the modeller wishes to recreate. Drybrushing can be done in several layers, using more white each time. A final layer of dust grey can be applied to simulate the cumulative effect which a dusty road march would have on the vehicle and its crew.

Soviet Red Army Miniatures of World War Two