Easy French armour

In our recent 1940 invasion of France campaign, the Germans were by far the most prolific team, amassing an impressive number of vehicles. While the British were well represented, the French should have had the largest numbers of armoured vehicles.

I decided to lend the French player (Chris K) a hand by painting up some extra vehicles. Then the French could field a 'proper' armoured platoon. I had some AGNM models which needed some TLC. It was then I encountered my old enemy, what colour to paint them?

After a little research, I decided to do something heretical and bought a can of Citadel Death Guard Green. This was a little lighter than the light olive colour I was aiming for, but I knew it'd darken down with washes.

For my secondary colour, I used Vallejo Beige (917) - I wanted something distinctly different from Dunkelgelb or any of the desert yellows I had and matched the French colours. Ivory or a mix of the two would have been another good option.

I took inspiration from actual French camouflage schemes, although none of my models represent actual tanks.The black lines seperating the two colour schemes were originally a fine black marker, but I had to go over with a matt black. The tracks were done in Dark Tracks (MIG 0035).

Transfers were added from Rubicon. I'll add some variety by getting more from Warlord and the French company Historpic, which does some excellent transfers in 1/56. Finally 'Streaking Grime Effects' (MIG 1203) was applied to the whole model, toning it down nicely. The excess was removed with a cotton bud.

The finished vehilce looks 'good enough' and I could always add weathering. It is also a relatively quick method, which allowed me to fill out the French forces nicely for our game.