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Painting LVT Tanks

Painting LVT Tanks
Amphibious Tank Camouflage in the Pacific
With Chris Townley

I’ve talked before about how excited I am to see the Marine Amtanks finally coming to Flames Of War. It hasn’t taken much convincing for me to jump on board and want to build a company based around these massive and frankly odd-looking vehicles.

One of the things that really surprised me is that the Amtanks used in the Pacific were painted in a variety of ways as the Marines (and Army) learned from their experiences and changed their markings and camouflage schemes. 

In this article I’ll give you a taste of the different ways you can paint your vehicles to represent the different campaigns.
Painting LVT Tanks
Painting LVT Tanks
Colours used:
       
  50% Panzer Grey (303) 50% Bunker Grey (304)  
Saipan,
June 1944
The first LVT(A) amphibious tanks were painted in the same all over Ocean Grey camouflage that the troop carrying vehicles were painted in. Tactical markings, including traditional stars, unit numbers and vehicle names, were common additions. The vertical bars on the side of the Amtank indicated which beach the vehicle was assigned to; Red and Green for the Marine 2nd Division and Blue and Yellow for the 4th Division. The two stripes indicate that it is also from Red Beach 2.

Tinian,
August 1944
During their time on Saipan the Marines realised that their Ocean Grey scheme was not as useful once they had landed as the Amtanks pushed further onshore to support the troops.

Here they painted large patches of Sand colour over their vehicles.

Painting LVT Tanks
Colours used:
     
50% Panzer Grey (303) 50% Bunker Grey (304) Dry Dust (364)

Painting LVT Tanks
Colours used:
     
  Sherman Drab (321)  

Peleliu,
September 1944
As the Pacific campaign progressed the Marines found that the Japanese were increasingly leaving the shores lightly defended to then draw the Americans further inland where they would be easier to ambush. In response to this change the Amtanks were painted in the traditional US Olive Drab.

Units did not seem to use the same beach landing bars that were used in earlier campaigns but kept some unit or vehicle numbers. 


Iwo Jima,
February 1945
The final evolution of the Amtanks paint scheme was to add Sand and Red Brown patches over the Olive Drab, whilst keeping any sort of tactical markings to a minimum as the Marines felt they were too conspicuous and gave the enemy an aiming point.
Painting LVT Tanks
Colours used:
     
Sherman Drab (321) Oxide Red (382) Dry Dust (364)

Painting Amphibious Tanks
Painting LVT Tanks Painting LVT Tanks
Step 1: Basecoat the LVT hull with a 50/50 mix of Panzer Grey (303) and Bunker Grey (304). Step 2: Block-paint random camouflage shapes with Dry Dust (364), ensuring the troop compartment remains grey.
Painting LVT Tanks Painting LVT Tanks
Step 3: Coat the LVT in gloss varnish and apply decals. Step 4: Apply a targetted wash to recesses and panel lines with Manstein Shade (492).

Gator's Amtracks – Marine Tank Company (USAB06) Amphibian Tank Platoon (UBX45) LCT(4) Amtrac Section (UBX46)
Gator's Amtracks – Marine Tank Company (USAB06) Amphibian Tank Platoon
(UBX45)
LVT(4) Amtrac Section (UBX46)
You can use these camouflage schemes with the Gator's Amtracks – Marine Tank Company army box set or the Amphibian Tank Platoon box. And the same patterns are also appropriate for your amphibious troop transports, like the LVT(4) Amtrac Section.
~ Chris.


Last Updated On Thursday, June 16, 2016 by James at Battlefront