BRITISH ARMY COLORS: TUNISIA, SICILY & ITALY 1943-45

From Tunisian mud to the olive tone

The British units that finished the fighting in North Africa in 1943 and carried it over to Sicily and Italy had a finish in transition on their vehicles. Alongside the light mud tone, supplemented by dark disruptive bands, an olive shade increasingly gained ground, and it later predominated across all British equipment. The trio in the package covers both phases.

The light mud serves as the undercoat for machines brought over from the desert campaign, the black creates the contrasting bands typical of the Tunisian battlefield, and the olive tone represents the later single-color finish. By combining all three you can build a convoy in which one vehicle looks freshly repainted while the next carries its original desert coat under a new layer.

Notes on use

The paints are acrylic with water thinning, and each bottle holds 17 ml. The mud tone is light and has little covering power, so a light undercoat is recommended. The olive shade, in contrast, covers well and takes even a thin layer over a dark surface. Anyone building the transitional phase can lay the olive finish down imperfectly and let the older color show through on the edges and around the rivets.

The set suits tracked and wheeled equipment in 1:35 and 1:72 scale, and artillery material and trailers just as well. The shades can also be used separately, because each of them has its own validity in the British scheme of the period.

Before varnishing it is a good idea to let the finish dry out thoroughly. The mud tone stays sensitive to fingerprints longer than the olive one, and masking tape can pull a thin layer off it.