Colour schemes for French vehicles on Mars

[Bullshott]

I'm about to paint some French steam vehicles for fighting on Mars. But what colour scheme do I use?

For Venus I used WW1 French three-colour camouflage:



But this would be totally out of place on Mars (at least once the troops had acclimatised and repainted their vehicles).

One option might be to use the same concept but without the green (either stick to two colours or replace the green with another more appropriate colour). However, I'm not 100% sold on that and still open to suggestions for alternatives.

So what have others used, either for French vehicles in a general VSF setting or for any nation's vehicles with a Martian 'paint job'?

[answer_is_42]

I'm not really convinced by the use of camouflage schemes in the Victorian era - it just doesn't seem right, and looks rather odd next to more traditionally dressed infantry in blues, reds etc. As a general rule, little was done to uniforms to adapt them for service in places like Africa, so why should Mars be any different?

I paint my French vehicles and equipment white (badly);

[Thunderchicken]

I've gone along the same lines as answer-is-42 for my French armour. A single colour scheme and in this case 'stone green' (as usual my pic skills are poo so the colour hasn't come out very well  ):

[Bullshott]

I've gone along the same lines as answer-is-42 for my French armour. A single colour scheme and in this case 'stone green' (as usual my pic skills are poo so the colour hasn't come out very well  ):

@ TC - Whose paint did you use for this beastie? By coincidence, I'll be using one of these tanks, although I see you have reworked thetop od the turret. I forgot you had some Frenchies - please PM or email me to remind me of what forces you have available.

[Malamute]

The French presence on Mars is starting to escalate already.... 

I agree with the others, paint it one block colour, the grey works well.

[Westfalia Chris]

The French presence on Mars is starting to escalate already.... 

Don't worry. Once they meet the indigenous people for the first time, their tanks will be able to prove how useful that fancy reverse gear really is.



I'd agree on the non-camouflage approach. Either use a single light grey, maybe horizon blue, or paint them in that lovely black-beige scheme they used for their ironclads (like the Dupuy de Lome, that one is as VSF as it gets).

[G. K. Zhukov]

Personally, I'd go with a light blue in the style of the "Chasseurs d'Afrique".

[Mors]

When I get round to my small French force I was also going for a light blue or blue/grey

[Bullshott]

or paint them in that lovely black-beige scheme they used for their ironclads (like the Dupuy de Lome, that one is as VSF as it gets).

Not necessarily a good idea painting ground vehicles black under the heat of the Martian sun 

Personally, I'd go with a light blue in the style of the "Chasseurs d'Afrique".

A light blue or horizon blue would also work very well with the light blue uniforms of the Troupes de Marine (that, by coincidence, I've been assembling a unit of this afternoon) 

[Dewbakuk]

I like the colour of TC's vehicle. I also don't like camo for VSF stuff.

[Red Orc]

On the whole I, like everyone else it seems, feel that single-colour vehicles are more VSF. Grey or a nice French Blue seem obvious (I've seen lovely British vehicles in racing Green, so why not French in their nation sporting blue?)

But because I'm terribly perverse I'm going to argue against that. I like the Venus camo, and think the brick-red and sandy stripes would work well for Mars, possibly with a darkish grey replacing the green. However, I'd make it more 'blocky', a bit more like 'camo' for ships in WWI.

My main problem with the way it looks now (apart from the green, obviously) is that the stripes are too thin and it therefore looks too much like 'proper' camoflage - when of course we know if you were to use it, it should be camoflage as invented by a mad scientist and explained to a military bureaucrat who didn't understand the idea but knew that he wouldn't like it even if he did.

Quite how you paint that, I'm not sure... 

[Skrapwelder]

I've got a French project going as well and have attempted to get that tan/mustard color I have seen on French Ft 17's.


Still a work in progress.

I like TC's as well and have come very close to that same color on the same model for my Prussians. I'm not fond of camo schemes for VSF.

[Westfalia Chris]

Not necessarily a good idea painting ground vehicles black under the heat of the Martian sun  :

Oh come on - take a look at French films, French food, French culture as a whole and then tell me they will choose efficiency over style.

The upper hull is white/beige/buff, anyway - that should be enough reflection not to result in fried coq au sueur.

[OSHIROmodels]

DAZZLE!!!




And one that looks like a Harlequin 



I'm going to give the dazzle a go on something soon, just to see if it works or not 

cheers

James

[Calimero]

Isn’t the painted flag on Answer_is_42 steam tank upside down?

… or maybe the crew is in some kind of distress?