StuG crew uniform color?

[CapnJim]

Okay.  I know their uniform color is "reed green".  Any ideas from the collecive intellect here at the LAF on what paint color to use?  I'm painting up a few discounts (WA Panzer Lehr fellas) for my StuG.  Thanks in advance for any ideas...

[Jemima Fawr]

It depends on the unit using them.  Some panzer units adopted StuGs in lieu of tanks (e.g. 9th & 10th SS in Normandy, whose PzIV battalions were 50% StuG), so in those units you would typically see a lot of black uniforms (with a smattering of reed green or camo).  Radio-controlled (Funklenk) Panzer units (such as the one attached to Panzer-Lehr) were also Panzer Branch, so would typically wear black.  Artillery StuG units, Panzerjaeger units, etc would typically wear reed green and/or camo and not black uniforms, but never say never...

Also remember that Reed Green was a sort of greenish-grey, while Field Grey was a sort of greyish green... In reality there was such a vast variation in dye that the two colours were indistinguishable.

[Fitz]

I normally use Vallejo Stone Grey (VMC 886 I think) as the base colour for reed green.

[CapnJim]

Thanks for the quick responses!  I already have some black-clad dismounted panzer crew chaps, so I'm good there. 

And I have Vallejo's 886.  Looks to be a shade or 2 off of their Field Grey.  I think I'll give that a whack.  I have the following 28mm WW2 odds and ends all prepped, primed and ready to go:

     *  3 dismounted StuG crewman (as I mentioned, WA Panzer Lehr fellas)
     *  A German sniper team (a mix of parts from Warlord's older and newer grenadier, and Blitzkrieg, sprues)
     *  A tripod-based MG42 crew (Artizan Designs)
     *  3 US airborne infantry (an old Battle Honors BAR gunner, and 2 Warlord plastic riflemen)
     *  A US airborne bazooka team (Artizan Designs)
     *  A US airborne 57mm AT gun, with crew (Warlord, with the 3 crew that came with it, and a Battle Honors guy added in)
     *  A US infantry bazooka team (Empress)
     *  4 dismounted USMC tankers (Brigade Games)
     *  4 US leg infantry crew for that 57mm AT gun (Warlord plastic, both older and newer)       
 
Of course, I'll post piccies here as I paint them up...

Again, thanks for the tips!

[carlos marighela]

If you favour the greener side of green-grey, then Vallejo Model Color 70.920. German Uniform is meant to be reed green.

As an aside it's absolutely ideal for Czech gendarmes circa 1938 should you ever go down the rabbit hole of an interwar Czech force.

[CapnJim]

Hmm.  I think I have 920 too.  Methinks I'll look at the 2.

And I'm kinda down a bunch of rabbit holes as it is.  Another one is all I need....

[Blackwolf]

The reed green the summer uniform, stug crew’s amongst many others  wore field grey uniforms,the feldjacke (II). This of course could be all sorts (as you know) of variations of field grey; from an English Uniform colour through to a pigeon grey. To top it all everyone in the Panzer Lehr Division wore the  feldjacke (II) (supposedly) with unique litzen. And as far as I can see during Normandy at least, they did. However after Normandy the Panzer Lehr was a broken formation and pretty much had to recruit from scratch,and I suggest uniformity was lost.

Edit: furthermore tank crews in the Panzer Lehr  could wear the feldjacke (ie black), I have pictures showing both.
Information from German Army Uniforms by Ricardo Recio Cardona and Antonio Gonzalez Sanchez.

[CapnJim]

Thanks!  I think I'm set then.  I really appreciate everyone's assistance.