1st Armor build M3 Lee

You could do a captured M3 Lee from the Battle of Kasserine Pass, by the end of the campaign almost 60-70% of german vehicles were captured american and allied equiptment , thats what Ive read anyways.

I would use a heavy coating of earth tone pastels over the olive drab if you want it to look that way... best of luck to you!

The completely OD Lees were the norm. I've only seen one or two pics of Lees with dried mud smeared on them.

To see a photo of a heavily "dusted" tank, have a look at Dr. Ahn's marveleous Sherman:

http://www.missing-lynx.com/gallery/usa/m4early_cheehongahn.html

I'm pretty sure he uses pastels or pigments to create the dusted effect.

Ok so the most historically accurate way for me to do this would be to paint them Olive Drab and try to find a way to make it look as if there was smeared dirt all over the tank? That seems as if though it is going to be a bit of a challenge. I will be sure to give it a shot though. Any suggestions on how to do that?

Thanks Ben

Well I know that the Brits bought M3 Lee's and took them to the North African theatre in 1942. I wish I had my references available but unfortunately I dont't have them with me.

Hi Bryan:
My first word of advice would be to enjoy the building/painting process. You're the main audience for the finished product.

Now if you want to be moderately accurate, then you'll have to modify your painting and marking choices. All US M3 Lees in N Africa were painted OD. Some had mud smeared on them to give them a partial earth tone/partial OD. Otherwise, the photographic evidence is that they were dusty OD.

The British had the M3 Grant on hand in N Africa. A minute few M3 Lees were sent in the early batches, I recall. These would have been repainted completely desert camo schemes. I don't have this info handy. This would require some more research.

Again, take this advice is you want to be historically accurate. If you're just building for fun's sake, go ahead w/the Afrika Mustard (which is a German AFV color BTW).

I believe the British used the M3 Grant version during the North African campaign. I'm not saying that there weren't desert camouflaged M3 Lees, but I don't recall seeing photos of them.