FOV 1/32 British Matilda II Tank Repaint: BEF in France 1940

[tmanthegreat]

The FOV Matilda II was always one of my favorite FOV vehicles because it was a relatively obscure subject and one of the only true British tanks they ever made. I had wanted one in the livery of a British Expeditionary Force (BEF) tank in France in 1940 to counter my other Blitzkrieg-era German tanks in 1/32 scale. Matildas played a key role in the Battle of Arras (May 21, 1940) which was one of the few near-successes the Allies enjoyed against the German invasion of France and Belgium. Since FOV was likely never to make a Matilda in BEF markings, that left me with the repaint option.

This was a long-gestating project that I actually started over 5 years ago and then revisited this past week. I had two FOV Matildas, an Enthusiast and Action Grade tank, both in the same desert Caunter scheme with the splintered blue and green camo. I decided to repaint the Action Grade tank. Years ago, I got as far as dismantling the tank completely and removing all the various parts from the hull. I can't remember why I lost interest, but the parts sat in a box for years, managed to stay intact when I moved to a new house, and sat around some more gathering dust in my garage until around this past Tuesday. Then I decided to complete the project...

There really wasn't that much too it... Various articles about painting a BEF Matilda from 1940 suggested using a khaki drab green paint as the base color with a dark green for the camo bands. I airbrushed Tamiya khaki drab (XF-51) as the base coat and Tamiya Dark Green (XF-61) for the dark green bands and blotches. I used Tamiya Red Brown (XF-64) and Tamiya Flat Earth (XF-52) for the mud/dirt weathering,. painted with an old stiff brush. I didn't pattern my tank after any particular BEF tank (heck, I left the 7th Armored Division insignia on it!) but went with something that looked generally like a tank from that period. The little white square identification markings were also painted on. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with my end result.

Enjoy











"Before & After" FOV Matilda in Caunter scheme & BEF repaint


Adversaries: Matilda II and Panzer IIID in contemporary markings