Mr. Color - ruská zelená (1)

The green of Soviet vehicles

A dark green with an olive cast, carried by the tanks, self-propelled guns and trucks of the Red Army. The shade changed during the war according to the production plant and the availability of raw materials, so period photographs show a range from an almost black green to a lighter tone running toward khaki. The number in brackets after the name distinguishes this variant from the second, slightly differently tuned version in the same range.

Paint properties

The binder remains a solvent lacquer, so it cannot be thinned with water. It can be thinned only with the brand's thinner of the same range, in roughly half to the same volume as the paint. The package holds 10 ml and the dried layer is hard, smooth and ready for masking as well as for later oil techniques.

How to work with the shade

• Soviet vehicles are rewarding to modulate on a model, as a flat application takes away from the effect
• Lighten the tone with white and spray over the upper surfaces of the turret and hull
• Apply dust and mud only once it has dried, as a dark green takes them in greater measure
• Suggest rubbed places with a dark brown, not with silver, which looks too harsh

Use one stirred batch for one model. Differences between batches are documented with this shade, but on a single vehicle they would look out of place.

What goes with the shade

• A dark brown for rubbed places around hatches and footsteps
• Sand and gray pigments for deposits of dust in the track runs
• Rust on the exhaust and on unprotected metal parts

Soviet vehicles got dirty quickly in the field, so a model with a perfectly clean green looks unfaithful. At the same time, overdone dusting swallows the shade entirely, and then it makes no difference which green you used.