WIP Critique Painting Tiger Stripe camoflague SBS

Hi guys

Several years ago I posted an SBS on how to paint British DPM camouflage, and to date its received over 21,000 views. This tells me there’s a real appetite for “how do you do that?” posts on this forum.

So I thought I’d tackle perhaps the hardest and most complex camo there is; US Tiger Stripe from the Vietnam War period.

Firstly, I’ve never painted Tiger Stripe on a large scale figure before, so this will be a step into the unknown for me and a chance for others to offer their tips/advice along the way.

The figure I’ve chosen is Assault Models 120mm MACV-SOG, which has been 3-D printed in soft grey plastic/resin. It’s a 3D scan of a re-enactor so there may be some issues with the face ( clearly this re-enactor hasn’t been living off a little rat meat and a handful of rice).

Here’s where I’m starting, and some reference pics to kick off. As the thread progresses, I’ll attempt to explain each step and provide paint colour references.

Step 1 is preparing the figure for painting. I’ve glued the upper and lower torso together and left the arms and head for painting seperately.

A light covering of Tamiya Fine White Primer is all I need to get started. I’ll give it 24 hours to dry and then I’ll get the paints out and the fun can begin.

Look forward to it mate. Yes I agree the face looks like a chubby asian, IMO & could do with a different HS.

Possibly the BDU's will need to be modified in the pockets area to represent TS cut fatigues?

I look forward to seeing your method compared to how I do it. I generally do things bass ackwards, so it should be interesting. I actually find Tiger stripe camo to be my favorite to paint.

Hi guys

Nosaj19 just to be clear, I’m not planning to modify this sculpt. I accept that this isn’t typically the BDU used for tiger stripe, but that’s not the point of doing this post. All I’m trying to do is create an SBS guide to painting Tiger Stripe camo. Hopefully the final result won’t look too bad, but as I said this is my first attempt.

Stay tuned

Step 2
Painting the first colour.
Most disruptive camouflage patterns have a base colour over which other colours are added in repeating patterns. Tiger Stripe is no different. The colour I’ve chosen as the base is the Andrea no2 white, with a small drop of Josonja Fawn. I’ve painted two coats of paint over the uniform areas, and then dry brushed pure Andrea no2 white over the shoulders and the raised areas of the uniform where it folds and along the seams. I deliberately didn’t dry brush below the knees as I wanted a slightly darker tone on the lower legs to reflect a damp cloth look.

JasonB makes a good point about painting this Tiger Stripe backwards, and I’ll say more about that when I do the next step.

Hi Tony

Great idea for a SBS and thanks for taking the time to do this

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses

Happy painting

Nap

Awesome mate, looking forward to seeing your amazing work

Step 3 Black lightening pattern

Having painted a light sandy coloured base, the next step is to paint the distinctive black horizontal lightning bolt shapes on the leg. The pattern doesn’t carry over the seam lines of the pants, so each panel of fabric , including the pocket and pocket flap which are stitched separately, have a different lightning bolt pattern that doesn’t match up along the seam.

The lightning bolt has a broken irregular shape and the edges and ends of each section look torn and splintered.

I used Jonsonja Carbon Black and added Andrea White no2 to create a dark grey colour. Black on its own is simply too dark and limits your options when it comes to shading.

I’ve done one leg tonight, and I’ll do the other leg soon. Once I’ve painted the entire uniform with the black lightning bolt pattern, I’ll move on the next step.

If you have any questions, please ask me. Also if you have any tips, don’t hesitate to share them with me. As I said earlier, this is my first attempt at Tiger Stripe and to a certain extent, I’m making it up as I go along.

amazing start...

Yep, we do them just the opposite. I start with a base of the green then add the black (and depending on pattern, olive drab/brown) stripes, then add all the tan strips, dots and squiggles last.

Long session tonight to complete the black lightning bolt patterns across the entire uniform.

I was informed by a Vietnam vet that the black tends to turn a purplish shade after a few months of sun and rain, I painted a Chota Sahib special forces figure years ago adding a touch of Humbrol WW1 purple to matt black which gave a nice weathered look, just a thought!

Steve

Very interesting and enjoyable to follow

Hi Tony

This is certainly looking good ...you must be steady wth that brush , no wonder it took a long session ...woukd like to see in paint a bust with this pattern !

Just how many colours are in this

Thanks for sharing

Happy camo to you

Nap

Hi Steve, the tendency for the black to fade to a purplish shade of grey is confirmed in several of my reference books. I’ve added purple to my grey colour mix to reflect that.

Nap, including the base colour, there are four primary colours that make up the pattern; black, light green, olive green and sandy beige. Once you add the highlight and shadow tones, the actual number of colours I’ll use will be closer to ten.

Step 4. I got so busy painting last night I forgot to stop and take photos.

So let’s catch up on things. I added Vallejo Blue Violet 70.811 to the dark grey mix and applied it as a highlight over the black lightning bolt patterns. This replicates the purple effect that occurred when the uniform started to fade and wear.

The next step is the addition of the green colour that completely fills the gaps between the black lightning bolts. I created the green mix by blending one part Josonja Olive Green with two parts Josonja Moss Green

The Tiger Stripe pattern is distinctive because all the colours in the pattern are separated by the sandy beige base colour. The colours don’t overlap or actually come in contact with each other.

So I started on the boonie hat and pretty soon the sleeves of the shirt and the shirt itself were done.

I’ll go back and do a few touch ups on the shirt and hat before I tackle the pants. The head and arms are blutacked in position for the photos. I won’t glue them on until I’ve done all the highlighting and shading.

Looking very good

Great Job Tony. Interesting that you had the fawn base first, I did the green first and then the black "lightning bolts" (great term BTW) then a lime green for the other stripes. The research was a lot of fun due to the multiple variations and manufacturers. Heres my 54mm Chota Sahib version
My next one was the Naked army SASR Vietnam bust which I could probably detail a bit more but as it was a gift for someone I had to get it finished.

..

Thanks for sharing your pics Jim. By starting with the lightest colour I was hoping to avoid painting the lightest colour over the darkest. For the most part it worked OK. Your pics look great, I especially like the job you did on the NA bust.