"Painting East German Rice Fleck" Topic

Would welcome any suggestions for painting the Rice Fleck pattern in 20mm.

I have a batch of ZIPRA regulars to paint for Rhodesian Bush Wars and understand that this was a common uniform for them and the Mozambique forces who were also encountered.

I shouldn't worry about it. I used to have a shirt and a cap in this pattern and it just looked uniformly greyish-brownish-green from more than a few feet away, as in this photo:

Here's an African soldier (either ZIPRA or SWAPO-PLAN) wearing it. Again, it looks a pretty uniform shade:

Yes it just looks brown from a distance, but acquires a sort of greenish tone in woodland like a lot of earthy khaki colours so.

I've got a full DDR uniform including the wacky helmet.

Martin, what color would you use for the wacky helmet?

To echo what others have said, at 20mm and smaller, I simply would not bother with attempting to paint the rain drops on the pattern as it blends in with the background color at any viewing range. I attempted the pattern on some of my 28mm ZANLA figures, and to be honest even at that scale I probably should have just painted the background color.

I've heard East German Strichmuster called "the camo pattern that really isn't camouflage"…and with good reason! I'm an avid airsofter, and we do get all sorts of camo kit showing up at skirmishes. Every time I see East German camo under field conditions it's painfully obvious that it't no more effective than a solid color.

>>Martin, what color would you use for the wacky helmet?

I'm not the Martin you asked, but I would use Vallejo "Bronze Green".

Martin

I have an EG helmet with a rain-pattern cover. i'm not sure when they instituted that and I have another with helmet netting. I think that the suggestion of "Bronze Green" is a good ome.

Many thanks for the replies.

What Vallejo would be best for the uniform itself and the webbing?

Thanks TrenchRaider and Cloudy