French Leclerc - what color brown should I use?

Mmmm... sounds like the Zenghdefu kit I reffered to earlier, or the Academy re-boxing..! Mine was not the easiest of the projects I ever did, but it was good fun altogether!

I'm too embarrased to say what kit it is. When I picked it up, the comment was made that most modelers would call it a "toy" and not a real kit.

It still requires painting and assembly, so it'll still require effort on my part.

If you want a late version Leclerc (RT-6/RT-8), Transkit Terre Modèles has a resin update kit that fits the Heller kit (TM018). The Heller kit gives you a pre-production Leclerc MBT. And Eduard has a PE set for the Leclerc too.

There are pictures of the completed Heller model and construction shots, showing some of the areas that need re-working at:

http://www.kithobbyist.com/AFVInteriors/fullmetal/leclerc/lec.html

The Trumpeter kit is apparently a poor copy of the Heller offering... It requires special glues as it's not molded in conventional plastic. It is also a pre-production Leclerc MBT. Having said that, it can't be any worse than the 1/48 Zenghdefu kit..!

Oh, and if you want to add yet more details in the crew compartment (in case the pictures shown in the link I provided in my earlier message tantalize you), check this:

http://www.defense.gouv.fr/visites_virtuelles/char_leclerc/indexjava.htm

Bayonet Recon, are you building the Heller 1/35 kit?
Got one on the shelf, and was wondering how well it goes together.

When I built my 1/48 kit, I used the #29 in the Humbrol range. It looked quite right comparing with the pics I had at the time. Which kit are you building now? I've just started the new Revell kit (1/72).

Thanks for the links. Good stuff!

Check this one though:

http://www.info-micro.com/engins/archives/leclerc.htm

It's got detail and overal pics in color! Lots of them! And the site has additional info on the other variants of the GIAT Leclerc.

I know this is an old post -- but I have yet to build this.

Besides the large exterior shot, the AFV Interiors site has a nice article regarding the Leclerc (in case anyone is interested).

French Main Battle Tank, "Leclerc"
http://www.kithobbyist.com/AFVInteriors/leclerc/leclerc1.html

I was thinking about lightening a regular brown, but my wife told me that brown is one of the hardest colors to mix and get it right. Now maybe she's wrong, but I'm not going to argue with her.

Anyways, if I listen to her, it gives me an excuse to go to the store and buy more paint.

I came across this article:
Superdetailing the GIAT "LeClerc" Main Battle Tank on the Missing Links site (an excellent site btw!!).

Towards the end of the article, the author stated that the French don't use the standard NATO colors (so much for using Tamiya's NATO brown). The colors used were: Model Master French Earth Brown, Model Master Medium Green, and Model Master Flat Black.

ILuv3ggs, looks like you were right - an Earth color. Thanks!!

Well, the brown looks more like a Earth colour to me. Your right tho, there is no Light Brown on the chart. You could possibly either lighten brown with white or somethin similar or use Flat Earth.

Or use a colour from a different company