I always prime in black and follow it up with a light spray of white to create a small amount of subtle colour modulation. I then used an airbrush (a brush would be suitable as well) to spray on Olivgrun Base AK1172 from the AK Interactive range of acrylics. I did not worry about any variation in the green as it was pretty thin and the black and white base did all the work for me.
I had painted a Leopard 2 previously for this review and rather than go to the templates online I used that tank as the template. I figured I would rather have my force looking similar so if I made a mistake on the first one it will at least be consistent with the entire battle group. I painted with a brush the black part of the NATO camouflage first using Vallejo Game Color German Grey 70.995. This was the most time consuming part and will be the most amount of brush work.
Next I used Rotbraun Base AK 1169 to do the brown looking parts of the NATO scheme, again with just a brush. I then used a bone-white to do a light dry brush over the entire vehicles to tone done the colours and give some definition to the various parts such as the cupolas. After this stage was complete I sprayed the tanks with a varnish to protect the paintwork as I will be using solvents next.
For the wash I used an enamel wash, NATO Camo Vehicles AK 075, and gave each vehicle a generous coating. Then using a cotton bud dipped in odorless solvent (I then dab the cotton bud on absorbent paper to take of the excess), I cleaned it up. What this stage does is clean the wash from the open areas and ridges exposing the original colour giving the effect of depth in the vehicle.
The last stage for me is always another light dry brush using the bone-white to further accentuate the raised areas and any little features on the tank creating even more difference between the raised edges and the recesses.
So that is a basic run down of how I painted the NATO camouflage on my Leopards 2's to a table top standard ready to play. I know new painters or those lacking confidence in their abilities are often intimidated by camouflage patterns, but they are pretty easy to do once you break it down and as seen here you can have them looking ready for battle with just a few simple techniques and the right paints.
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