"What's the reason for the grey tanks in BOB." Topic

And other grey equipment.
In band of brothers German tanks, guns and other vehicles are grey. Even though they should be dunkelgelb by this point in the war.
Is the reason?
1 Germans must be grey or the audience won't know it's German.
2. Not a single person involved in the production knew they should be dunkelgelb?

I think it's because people don't buy 'mucky yellow' as a good base cammo colour in NW Europe, seeing it as a desert cammo colour.

If I had no knowledge of German cammo colours, I wouldn't either – so I guess they did it to make it look 'more believable' even though they were making it less realistic.

Not all vehicles were dunkelgelb, quite a few were grey. I have a few books on the German forces in Normandy and there a few photos of vehicles in grey…..

I understood that too …

I believe the real reason is that the owners of said vehicles painted them grey for what ever reason and did not want to repaint them.

Like SPR it had more to do with the stylistic choice of toning down/washing out the colors to give the scenes a "grittier" feel than anything else. Kinda like old photos in sepia.

The Tiger in BoB was the same converted T-34 used in SPR, which comes as little surprise since Hanks (get better Tom and Rita!) and Spielberg were behind both. As you can see below, it's clearly in late war Normandy three-tone camouflage:

Likewise, you can clearly see the camo stripes on the Jagdpanther. Panzermarsch!:

Ditto for the "88":

Link here: link

Hmm seems like there was less grey than I remembered.
I just remember the grey 105mm at Bercourt
And the very grey Hanomag in the market garden episode.

I have to rewatch those episodes. I actually do not remember anything being grey when I saw it. I would pick that stuff out if I see it, since I'm also a hard-core armor modeler besides…

Damon.

And the very grey Hanomag in the market garden episode.

This one? Okay, so it should have been the D variant but it looks good to me:

Looks like they tried to make it look like a D with the flat sides but the rear is a dead giveaway. Sorry, I'm no rivet-counter.

I believe the 251 was a conversion of the Czech post-war halftrack. The sides are very reminiscent of that. Regardless, there could still be C's kicking around in Normandy or Holland during this period.

Damon.

Or the OP watched it in black and white…😬

I would have a bigger problem with a jagdpanther in Carentan on D+7 supporting a fallshirmjager unit.

I always remember Kelly's Heroes was the first movie actually using/making vis-mod Tiger Is. Again using the T34/85 as the base. In Panzer Grey with green stripes IIRC … link

The Tiger in BoB was the same converted T-34 used in SPR

And in Kelly's Heroes, but looks like green and dark grey/black camo there.

Yep ! There it is !

Ha…. Legion, your post was not there when I started my hunt…. Har!

The colours in BoB are deliberately muted using color grading in post production. I think the documentary that was bundled with the box set mentions it but this document discusses it.

PDF link

The things you learn here. Thanks bullant.

I can't remember seeing many grey vehicles at all, and all the Russian 122s in the Brecourt Manor battle were painted dunkelgelb. I think the 88 at Foy might have been grey.

As noted, most of the vehicles were from private collectors, I sure as hell wouldn't repaint my lovely hand built Stug on an FV432 chassis. I believe the battle at Carentan was supposed to be 17th SS PG Div, so would have had Stug IVs. Stug IIIs and Jagdpanthers are close enough for TV purposes.

I believe the 251 was a conversion of the Czech post-war halftrack.

The OT-810. Interesting. The things you learn here indeed.

From Wikipedia:

Czechoslovakian produced version, made by Praga and Tatra, about 1,500 vehicles built during 1958–62. This version had an air-cooled diesel engine, and an armored roof over the troop compartment. The vehicle was not liked by those who used it and was nicknamed "Hitler's revenge". Last vehicles were removed from Czech Army magazines in 1995.

Visual ! I love that movie !

As noted, most of the vehicles were from private collectors, I sure as hell wouldn't repaint my lovely hand built Stug on an FV432 chassis.

At the yearly D-Day reenactment in Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. Many of the German AFVs use the 432 as a base. Look forward to going this year if I can.

The OT-810. Interesting

Yes I remember seeing that in our WP Vehicle ID charts, training, etc. In the US Army, '79-'90. Thought that was pretty cool ! Wouldn't want to blow one up if war broke out. But orders and orders …

Noticed the number 113 on the Tiger. Isn't that the number on the decal that came with the Airfix Tiger?

Wasn't the Airfix 332?

Airfix: 113 on the 1/76 Tiger II, 332 on the 1/76 Tiger I, 832 on 1/35 Tiger I.

Odd how often 113 appears on models of German tanks. Within seconds I found it on a Tiger I, a King Tiger with a Porsche turret and one with the Henschel. I could have sworn that was the Airfix Tiger marking also, but proves a false memory! It at least encouraged me to rediscover what each number meant.

The earliest Airfix Tiger kit, in a plastic bag, was indeed 332. A later boxed version became 221 for while. Try this for a nostalgia trip if you collected Airfix models in the late 50s / early 60s;

link

I may be wrong here, but wasn't the grey paint meant for Western Europe in the first place?