Painting Italian Vehicle Continentale Camouflage

By Kreighton Long

As I work on improving my Bolt Action Italian army I found myself needing a little extra firepower and maneuverability by utilizing the Armored Car slot. After looking through the options for the Italians I settled on an Autoblinda AB 41 and was lucky enough to stumble across one at a brick and mortar store I visit whenever possible. While looking into different paint schemes for my new speedy-pew-pew I was inspired by photos of Italian armor painted in a three tone paint scheme with a base of tan with blotches of green and brown known as Continentale.

The Continentale paint scheme was used on a few Italian vehicles predominantly in Italy as the Allies pushed the fighting from Africa to the Italian peninsula. Gaps between the brown and green where the undercoat showed through created a unique looking vehicle camouflage pattern that I decided to reproduce. After some trial and error I found a process that allowed me to reproduce the paint scheme I wanted in the least painful way possible.

To accomplish my version of Italian Continentale camouflage I used the following Vallejo colors: Black [950], Cam Olive Green [894], Russian Uniform WWII [924], Hull Red [985], Middlestone [882], and Sand Yellow [916].

Base coat the piece with a 1:1:1 mix of Black, Cam. Olive Green, and Russian Green.

Highlight with a 1:1 mix of Cam. Olive Green and Russian Uniform.

Apply uneven patches of Hull Red. I aimed to cover approximate 1/3rd of the surface area with these patches.

Trace around the red patches with Middlestone.

Using Middlestone, connect the existing yellow rings. Include a few Middlestone rings around green as well.

Highlight with a light drybrush of a 1:1 mix of Middlestone and Yellow Sand.

Finish painting the piece and get it on the table.

Happy painting!