Char 2C is another piece I have been working on recently. As much as construction was straightforward, painting is more of a pain. The colour to be used is actually bit of a mystery. Instructions only provide colour reference for Vallejo paint, which is close to Tamiya Olive Drab. This is however too dark for finishing the tank. And the colour of the build model on the Meng website is anything but this colour, it’s more of a cooler green shade and of course much lighter. I tried to replicate it my mixing different Tamiya paints, but didn’t like the outcome, so I stripped the paint and started again. Model was preshaded with Citadel Chaos Black, just because the Char 2C is quite large and I was too lazy to do the preshading second time by airbrush and wanted to try the Chaos Black as lot of people use it, but I haven’t tried so far.

The new colour I have usedd looks better, it is warmer and looks more realistic. I have added bit of a modulation, primarily on the hull side, which really asks for it. I plan to go for lot of streaking and pigments on this one, so it should darken the colour a bit. Colour mixes I have used are as follows:

Mix of XF-58:XF-51:XF-4:XF-2

• Base coat – 3:2:2:1
• First highlight – 3:2:4:2
• Second highlight – 3:2:6:4
• Third highlight – 3:2:8:6

As for decals, I decided to go for the “Normandie” vehicle as I like the contrast between the tank colour and the large red decal on the turret. Application of decals was preceded with light layer of Tamiya Semi gloss clear X-35 over the places, where decals are to go. Decals were applied with Micro Set and Micro Sol and went on smoothly. At this time I haven’t blended them with a light overspray of base coat so they shine too much.

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