"Late Soviet/Russian vehicle colours?" Topic

What colour do folks use for painting late Soviet or post Soviet Russian tanks? Googling up images shows a wide variation in greens, but the commonest appears to be an olive green rather than the darker Russian Green (Vallejo 894). Any help appreciated particularly with paint make/shade for commonly available ranges in UK – Vallejo, Humbrol, Revell, Warpaints, GW and Army Painter.

I think they often started off as 'Russian Green' but fade very quickly to a sort of horrible sickly mushroomy green. The piles of old Russian kit which used to be piled up around the back of Duxford was that sort of colour, and there are a load of old Sov trucks at the National Paintball Site near Tamworht which have faded to some really bizarre shades.

I use Vallejo 894 and bung a bit dollop of ochre in it (GW bestial brown or similar) which lightens and yellows it up nicely. Out of the pot it is way too dark anyway, especially over a black undercoat.

This is the sort of colour I mean. These look like active service vehicles and the colour much lighter than Russian green.

If it helps I use Humbrol and I've found Humbrol 102 Army Green to be a good match.

Humbrol used to make 114 Russian Green but they stopped making that a few years back, so 102 is about the closest.

I used to use Humbrol's Napoleonic French Artillery Green, but I don't know a modern equivalent.

More recent Russian armour seems to have gone back to a darker green with sandy/ochre cammo pattern.

"This is the sort of colour I mean."

Yep, and that is what I paint mine. 894 and a dollop of ochre.

By the time it is covered in mud and dust it ends up pretty light anyway.

I use Humbrol 102 also. It's a pretty revolting lurid green straight out of the pot, but with a mucky black-brown wash and a little dusty dry brushing- the end result is very 'Soviet'.

This is an interesting photo in that it shows different shades of green on the same tank. The lighter olive green and a darker green, although not as dark as Vallejo Russian Green. So looks like there were different paints and one is not a faded weathered version of the other.

Noticed it depends on where the units are based and type.

For units in in the Western MD's, the three-tone of tan, green and charcoal was the primary color. Units in the Caucasus MD (which primarily fought in Chechnya) were in overall green. T-80's' and T-64's tended to be in three-tone while T-72's sported overall green during that conflict (the 80's were brought in from the western MD's where they took heavy losses).\

Three-tone started in the late 80's and is still used to a much smaller degree today, mainly on older equipment like the T-80's. For overall green go with Martin's suggestion, it is a good one. For tan I use a craft paint camel lightened with a bit of white. Vallejo Iraqi Sand with a very small drop of white will also work.

I have found the best match for the green on the T72 picture to be the MIG acrylic color Zashchitniy Zeleno Xb516 MIG-083

I am using the MIG lines for both NATO tri-color and Warsaw Pact.