Matilda II in the 1940-41 East Africa Campaign

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

I'm working on forces for the 1940-41 East Africa Campaign but am having trouble finding reference photos or physical descriptions of the Matilda IIs. I'd like to paint up some for Bolt Action but I'm not sure how to proceed. Any help is appreciated.

[carlos marighela]

The 16 Matildas used in East Africa came from B Squadron, 4 RTR. They were shipped direct from the UK to the Sudan. Unlike their comrades in Egypt, it looks like these weren't treated to the Caunter Scheme that shows up on photos of Matildas in North Africa at the time. I'd assume a base colour of Light Stone or Portland Stone (buff/sand colours).

There's an account an period photos to be found here:

https://4and7royaltankregiment.com/1940-1941/

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

The 16 Matildas used in East Africa came from B Squadron, 4 RTR. They were shipped direct from the UK to the Sudan. Unlike their comrades in Egypt, it looks like these weren't treated to the Caunter Scheme that shows up on photos of Matildas in North Africa at the time. I'd assume a base colour of Light Stone or Portland Stone (buff/sand colours).

There's an account an period photos to be found here:

https://4and7royaltankregiment.com/1940-1941/

Thanks, I read that and wasn't sure if they would be painted for Europe still, or if they would have been given a buff/sand paint scheme before deployment.

[Rick]

Caunter was (I believe) officially adopted in Nov 1940 so, before this date, most vehicles were in the stone/sand colours. The question is, if they were sent over prior to November 1940, were they repainted in the same way as tanks in the Western desert?

[robh]

According to Mike Starmer in one of his MAFVA guides:

1940-41; Under G.O. 297 November 1940 very many AFVs and soft-skins in three tone Caunter scheme of Light Stone 61 or Portland Stone 64 as basic colour with Silver Grey 28 and Slate 34 or G3 left on as an expedient dark tone.  G.O.s of this period specifies Light Stone or Portland Stone at various times.  A scheme for The Sudan specified Light Stone No.61 or No. 64 Portland Stone with Light Purple Brown No. 49 In lieu of Silver Grey No. 28 and No. 34 Slate. Pathe film shows the darker colour being applied by spraying patches onto CMP trucks. The order is ambiguous by implying that it should be to the same pattern which appears not to be so.
A two-coloured pattern similar to ‘Caunter’ was applied to 3 RTR A10 tanks in Greece and 5 RTR A13 tanks in Libya during April and May 1941 using Light Stone No.61 or Portland Stone No.64 basic colour. Due to the low contrast pattern, Silver Grey No.28 may have been used instead of Slate No.34 or some unknown colour.


Light Purple Brown No.49 was exclusively the Sudan scheme, as yet no evidence of the pattern using the Sudan design has been found although photographs do appear to show it in use as wavy horizontal stripes on a carrier there.

I have not been able to find an online source of the picture of the carrier mentioned.

[carlos marighela]

Of course the extant photos of 4 RTR's Matildas in theatre don't show Caunter or the Sudan scheme.

[Rick]

Of course the extant photos of 4 RTR's Matildas in theatre don't show Caunter or the Sudan scheme.

Do you have a date as to when they were sent to East Africa? It would probably be asking too much to find out if those photo's are dated as well?
Got it - they were sent in October 1940 before the Caunter scheme was adopted and, chances are, they weren't repainted, although without a date on those 2 photo's I wouldn't state it conclusively! 

[dadlamassu]

This might be helpful

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Thanks. It looks like hastily applied sand paint over the original green. That can be interesting to attempt. What book is that plate from?

[dadlamassu]

Thanks. It looks like hastily applied sand paint over the original green. That can be interesting to attempt. What book is that plate from?

Sorry, I don't remember.  I found it on the internet many years ago when researching my East African Campaign models.  I was a bit surprised to find that 4 RTR did not appear to have painted their trademark "Chinese Eye" marking on the tanks

[italwars]

Dadlamassu and Sakuragi
it was from a very old and, i suppose, accurate magazine in Polish..i do not own anymore the physical magazine/booklet but still have the plates that i had scanned. No text available as it just included a small summary in french or English of something that i already know..the translation of the magazine title was something like "Italian East Africa 1935-41"..after having cross checked,  with my own reliable Italian sources, the plates referring to Italian stuff , they seem very accurate ..so i suppose the same accurate research had been made for British AFVs
...i' m posting  those plates as i guess that the magazine is  long out of print..in case i did something wrong please excuse me and delete accordingly

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Thanks, those are all really helpful!

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

I copied the sand painted over original green look for my East Africa campaign Matilda II. It's my first time trying something like this but I'm really happy with how it came out.

[Rick]

That looks really good, Sakuragi - I do like the way you got the hint of green on the tank. One thing I noticed from the photo's is that the colour seemed lighter the further down the tank you went; so that the turret seems to be a slightly darker shade - if you graded the colour a slightly lighter sand down the hull it'd look superb, but that's just me being picky! 

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

That looks really good, Sakuragi - I do like the way you got the hint of green on the tank. One thing I noticed from the photo's is that the colour seemed lighter the further down the tank you went; so that the turret seems to be a slightly darker shade - if you graded the colour a slightly lighter sand down the hull it'd look superb, but that's just me being picky! 

That's just because of the way the flash hit it. Turret and body are the same, Tamiya light sand primer followed by Vallejo gunship green drybrush then Tyrant Skull drybrush to dull it down. Then a very watered down Agrax to enhance details wash and second drybrush of Tyrant Skull to lighten it up again. Flat Earth is drybrushed around the bottom of the hull as well.