Can you make a tank disappear? The Evolution of Tank Camouflage

[@thetankmuseum]

Hi Tank Nuts! We hope you enjoyed this video. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[@pyeitme508]

Next about the Trophy system

[@joebidome1445]

Perhaps a video on Israeli tactics in Gaza?

[@MarktheRude]

All in all, I feel like the IR wavelength of camouflage discussion was almost completely glossed over in this talk about camouflages. It's not like thermal cameras are a new invention by any means of imagination. There was even that one silly experiment by BAE to mask a CV9040 with IR emitter-screens that essentially tried to mimic the thermal signature of surrounding terrain.

[@teaser6089]

Yes Give the tank to me, i will make it disappear hahaa

[@Calligraphybooster]

Not mentioned here (?) : LEDscreen + camera techniques.

[@DailyDamage]

My grandparents live near the NATO training grounds of Bergen in Germany. I was out in the forests there as a child and eventually discovered the edge of a tree line to what looked like a very large, open and quite sandy area, which was dotted with various large clumps and islands of bushes and birches. I was fascinated at seeing loads of spent cartridges, no doubt results from the training we had heard over the past weeks, strewn across the ground. A massive bush, just 50 m from me, turned its turret to me and laughed gayly as the soldiers inside caught sight of little me jumping out of my skin in shock and surprise. I’d totally overlooked a deadly chieftain tank, which in turn had been heavily camouflaged with bush material. An opening hatch revealed a smiling squady and eventually a whole troop who kindly fed me chocolate, a cup of tankers tea and let me sit on the turret. Childhood awesomeness moment

[@perpetualgrin5804]

Great story, every kids dream😅

[@EP-nl6fd]

Excellent story. Military boys are bored and love the interaction

[@depleteduraniumcowboy3516]

If kids are not around a soldier gets worried and expects action.

[@Balnsen]

Wish I was there when i was young, I really like tanks.

[@rojnx9]

I was on safari in Botswana recently, we were driving along through some medium density bush and all of a sudden there is a really loud elephant trumpeting. 10m off to the right standing in the bush was a massive elephant bull, its just plain grey, but somehow the elephant camouflage works really well because you see it but don't process that it is an elephant.

[@ThePsiclone]

Sergeant: "I didn't see you at camouflage class this morning Private?" Private: "Thank you Sergeant"

[@arostwocents]

😂

[@murrayscott9546]

That one's worth Edinburgh Fringe !

[@steveprice1639]

Officer: "Sergeant:, how's the men's moral today?" Sergeant: "It's very good at the moment Sir." Officer: "Well mess them around a bit then."

[@pRahvi0]

The best way not to be detected is not to be there.

[@JZsBFF]

That sounds like a line from "Carry On Tanker"

[@martiniv8924]

My father was in the North African desert (and Italy) from 39’ to 43’ he said in the field, unofficially they resorted to painting and throwing sand over the wet paint , tanks and trucks etc. he said it was as good as anything at camouflage, the art of camouflage is a fascinating subject 👌🏻😎

[@abbcc5996]

that would reduce sun glare. the video should have touched on the zimmerit for that purpose as well

[@HeinzGuderian_]

My UAV Unit went to Afghanistan in 2011. We were scheduled to support 10th Mountain in the north so our vehicles and equipment were all painted in woodland patterns. At the last minute we were assigned to the Marines in the southern desert area (Camp Dwyer). Nothing like being completely out of place.

[@scoutdogfsr]

I feel you. Desert Storm in 91. OD web gear, woodland pasgt cover and vest, chocolate chip BDU, and the same type jungle boot my dad wore in Vietnam. Light infantry on that wide open desert

[@BLACKTHUMB01]

BOHICA

[@depleteduraniumcowboy3516]

Right. Like scoutdogfsr said. Command told us "they are more afraid of us because we came from Europe and were trained to fight against the Russians" to make us feel better about it.

[@allengreen424]

​@@scoutdogfsrchocolate chip bdu has always been my favorite

[@murrayscott9546]

When Byrnham Wood comes against thee , beware !

[@Dave_Sisson]

In 1946 and 1947 war surplus camouflage nets were used to disguise ski huts and caravans from the authorities at Mt Buller in Victoria Australia. Despite the post war ski boom in Australia, the state government was reluctant to authorise new ski lodges on the mountain, so people built huts or hid caravans just below the treeline and covered them with camouflage nets to stop them being detected by aerial surveillance. A few were found, but most were not. The huts only lasted a few years because a new subdivision was authorised in 1949 and an extra 21 ski lodges were built that year.

[@VRichardsn]

Fascinating.

[@davefellhoelter1343]

Mom grew up IN Long Beach Ca from WWI through WWII she recalls Fake Scale Citys, Neighborhoods, Field, and Forests over Aeronautics Contractors complete with AA Batteries! her Mom was a Legal Secratary, Stenogrpher, Short Hand with clearances for said contractors and projects. Mom had a Lot of "Uncles" and a few new Dad's? Everyone a Vet of Air Wars, Most in the Pacific. Gramps, moms Dad, was a Seabee Officer.

[@cc0767]

austria or australia? because skiing in australia??

[@VRichardsn]

@@cc0767 Seems improbable, but the location, at least, exists. Look up Mount Buller. It is located some 200 km from Melbourne and it does snow there.

[@arostwocents]

Awesome 🎉

[@SkywalkerWroc]

Fun fact: Nowadays they use specially designed paints, as your common wall paint (that they often used in WW2) will actually shine in UV, making it super-obvious for enemy sensors. Paints with reduced UV signature are very expensive, but pretty much a must-have if you want to stay hidden on a modern battlefield.

[@NoahSpurrier]

That’s interesting. I thought common wall paints have UV pigments added to make the paint brighter and give it more pop. One would think that simply leaving these types of pigments out of the paint would solve the problem. Maybe there is more to it than that.

[@66kbm]

I remember from the British Army in the 80's, Paint Green IRR. In a white tin. I am sure that it was not all it was made out to be.

[@lewisjardine3624]

@@66kbm This was to mimic the effect of (green) chlorophyl which suddenly stops absorbing at wavelengths greater than ~700 nm. If you do simple image processing comparing a green visual camera image with a (registered) cheap low end IR image normal green paint will stand out a mile from natural vegetation.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

Yeah…not so much.

[@fridrekr7510]

I would love to know why the Brits used pink for desert camo instead of plain sand beige, and why the Germans decided on grey instead of green for the early vehicles.

[@stunitech]

IIRC it's because of heat shimmer. I read something once about British crews noticing that old vehicle wrecks bleached out in the sun to a faint pink colour due to rust and that often these wrecks were virtually invisible until they were quite close. They decided to try it as a scheme and it worked well. Google "pink panther land rovers" or "pinkies" and there should be info on the SAS employing this tactic in Desert Storm

[@mikewinston8709]

Visit a Middle Eastern desert if you can. Oman in my case; the Empty Quarter…..the desert ‘changes’ colours and shades during the day…very often to lots shades of pink. Modern Omani army combats are a dpm of pink, pale grey and sand. It works….

[@user-wf2lm3vi7o]

The Pink Panthers thought that some of the background rocks had a pinkish appearance. Trying to look more like a rock on a plain terrain than a vehicle at distance?

[@fridrekr7510]

@@mikewinston8709 I just think it's interesting when most modern desert schemes are based on plain beige or slightly yellow tones. The Russians also had a pinkish desert uniform for a short while. Logically, the sand isn't actually pink, so it would be the sunlight causing those shades. Maybe pink works for blending against the horizon.

[@stumpymacgabhann]

The undercoat was pink. They did not bother to cover it.

[@nicflatterie7772]

Camo net is an horror to setup and stow. Hard on the hands, hard to setup, hard to remove. On exercises we moved twice a day so handling the net was a constant pain.

[@TheDkeeler]

Yes I can see your point. I bet it gets all tangled up in a miserable knot.

[@onkelmicke9670]

Yes but it is effective.

[@mickregan2620]

I can still remember the stink of damp camo nets - it was rank🤢

[@robertakerson7186]

We would roll the netting onto the vehicle tops during moves in a manner that unrolling it again made completing the camo setup easier.

[@cmck472]

Scrim nets were invented to give Squaddies something else to swear about. We used to roll them up at dusk so we wouldn't break our necks over them in the dark, or when the inevitable Move order came an hour or so after full darkness hit!

[@dvdraymond]

I appreciate that you showed an S-tank while explaining all the various S's of camouflage :)

[@AvionDrake579]

Camouflage is an important factor on the modern battlefield that is often overlooked, nice to see it covered!

[@pyroavok]

Overlooking it is kind of the point, isn't it?

[@zbigniewszymanski7089]

Pity that you didn't mention soviet pre war school of painting armour it was actually something, even putting white for the winter wasn't as straightforward as it seems. There were instructions to put white paint in net patterns of different line thickness to make different shades of off white / green colour. And in cold war era eastern block tank crews were taught to paint camouflage patterns on their tanks in case of war. Plain green was peace time option to keep west as unaware or at least unfamiliar with wartime camo as possible. Nevertheless great and pleasurable to watch as always

[@SkywalkerWroc]

It's nothing soviet-specific, all armies did that (e.g. look at Swedish interwar tanks) - they had a different paint schemes, but the overarching idea was the same.

[@Shadow66090]

Oh no, we can't mention that Soviets had camo patterns and stuff, that would ruin the whole narrative that they didn't use or care about camo because they were the baddies who wanted to attack. Meanwhile the "defensive" NATO is waging wars all around the place as if it was fun.

[@SkywalkerWroc]

@@Shadow66090 Russia alone participated in more wars than NATO since after the fall of Soviet Union.

[@zbigniewszymanski7089]

@@SkywalkerWroc I've never seen any photo of any not ww2 soviet tank that wpuld be painted in white net pattern to be honest so I'm not sure if anyone else did it. Painting tanks plain white is of course out of discussion worldwide standard.

[@zbigniewszymanski7089]

@@Shadow66090 I'm living in former eastern block and remember that only defence against rotten capitalism is attack. And in case of eastern wartime applied camo my guess would be that it main purpose was to surprise western tankers who were trained that soviets were green. Other benefit would be fact that all series of soviet tanks since t 54 were quite similar in apparel and adding camo that additionaly makes it difficult to spot the difference is always good thing. Lastly hiding was probably somehow add on to this main reasons that I've proposed and not main point.

[@phys.ed74]

Can't argue with Chris' description of using a camnet, he did mention snagging on everything but buttons (on uniform) seemed to be a particular favourite!

[@larrybarger1077]

Damn straight.. netting a HEMTT with a trailer is a real pain . Once got hung up on the net while my buddy pulling a HEMTT out from under a net that had a " garage door" rolled up. Trying up top clearing the snags on MLRS Rocket pods with rifle slung in my back . The net was under tension, and I didn't realize my rifle was caught in net . When I pulled the net off the pod I got slung shot 17 feet from the front to the back of the pod . .. good times in the field..

[@VosperCDN]

As soon as he started talking about camnets it brought back memories of 80-90s, those things would stick on everything all the time.

[@StuzaTheGreat]

I read a few years ago that BAE simply slapped some LCD screens on the side of a tank with opposite side cameras as a test. This actually made the tank optically vanish from about 20 meters away. Given we now have low energy flexible OLED tech, it wouldn't surprise me if this actually has progressed further in testing.

[@danpatterson8009]

The problem with that approach, aside from the fragility of the screens, is that since the position of the observer is not known you cannot reproduce their perspective. A better use might be to adjust the screen colors/pattern to blend in with your surroundings. In parades you could rent out screen time to advertisers for beer money.

[@lewisjardine3624]

I believe this was at the Filton/Bristol branch working with RARDE Chertsey. As mentioned previously, this has a major problem caused by parallax. So, for example, if there is a telegraph pole behind the vehicle and you move off axis slightly the pole will appear to be displaced sidewards where it intersects with the tank disrupting the straight line. This is extremely noticeable as we have straight line detectors built into our eye-brain system. Another issue, is in the non-visual spectrum (IR & UV) where the characteristics of the LCD screen are unlikely to match the visual image and may even stand out like the proverbial sore thumb...

[@dogsnads5634]

It was called ADAPTIV

[@ryanreese8457]

With a big enough cannon, you can make almost anything disappear.

[@KommanderEd]

😂 lol

[@chinocracy]

Nice seeing the Malta scheme, I'm working on a Vulcan Light Tank Mk VI bearing that scheme. What a challenge, but fun to build.

[@SuiLagadema]

Oh! I didn't know the smoke grenades were made of red phosphorus. I always assumed it was white phosphorus (and other magical chemicals) because it obscures the tank from visible and IR light, showing basically a gigantic white blob on thermals. Thanks! Love learning small details like that.

[@thurbine2411]

There are WP smoke grenades

[@edwardscott3262]

That doesn't sound right. Red phosphorus readily turns into white phosphorus under heat. It's how matches work. Both strike anywhere and safety matches. The little bit of heat from striking the match turns the red phosphorus either on the match tip or the striker into white phosphorus. The white phosphorus starts burning in air and ignites the match. If I remember I'll dig into it more but as far as I know thermal obscuring smoke is still pretty secret.

[@thurbine2411]

@@edwardscott3262 does it turn into white phosphorus? I know that WP was used in matches before but then it was discontinued because of the working hazards

[@CanalTremocos]

That Maltese stonewall camouflage pattern looks great. Maybe it's time to buy a Matilda II model.

[@martinjrgensen8234]

I want one. Awesome looking tank

[@huwtindall7096]

Wow one of my favourite Tank Museum videos in a while! Well done all involved.

[@Ganiscol]

Early Klingon cloaking devices had the disadvantage of not being able to fire while cloaked. They fixed that flaw and tested it more or less successfully at the Khitomer Conference in 2293. Oh wait, wrong channel... 😅

[@sc1338]

Nerd lol

[@Ganiscol]

@@sc1338 Not a nerd, I had to look up the date. 😉

[@karlstreed3698]

When we were building the MC-130H Combat Talon II aircraft in the late 1980's I had the privilege of attending a four-day meeting on how we were going to paint the aircraft. The mission was to fly into deigned areas, usually at night to drop off or pick up people and cargo. We discussed one color, two color, three color and four-color schemes. The one-color schemes included what shade of color and flat or how glossy it should be. The multi color schemes included shades, gloss, and what to paint what in each color. I never saw so many people fight so hard for their pet paint scheme. Everyone was adamant they had the best idea. We ended up having a couple more meetings and settled for a variation of European Lizard.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

This is what happens when you let straight guys pick out color scheme! What the Air Force really needed was Queer Eye for the Sky Guy…

[@Drummercommander]

Informative, fun to watch and well edited! Well done to the whole team

[@russjames316]

yes, i really enjoyed the Two speakers format to get in depth narration on this one. Bravo!

[@nero_palmire]

There was another, rather unconventional, type of Soviet winter tank camo, that could work only in the extreme cold. A wet newspaper. They just quickly soaked a newspaper in water, layed it on the armor and in a matter of seconds it was frozen solid. A few years ago camo like this was spotted on the Belarusian tanks.

[@Talon3000]

Ingenious.If it looks stupid but it works, it's not stupid. xD Probably Wont cover the engine deck, but other than that?

[@grahamstrouse1165]

@@Talon3000Jingles fan, but any chance? 🙂

[@Talon3000]

@@grahamstrouse1165 uhm i watch some jingles, yeah.

[@jaggedskar3890]

The Israelis use a textured surface on their tanks to reduce shine and to give the crew a less slippery surface to walk on. Spaced floodlights can be very effective at certain distances to make vehicles virtually disappear along the horizon. Not tank camouflage, but I was impressed seeing British ski troops wearing white pants with green jackets. At first I thought they'd be visible at any range been when seeing them move in the distance near a tree line they became surprisingly difficult to see. Sometimes effective camouflage is rather counterintuitive.

[@extragoogleaccount6061]

Sorry, but can I ask what you mean by “spaced floodlights”?

[@SSGTru]

@@extragoogleaccount6061 large amounts of lights shining away from the vehicle that basically helps blend in with the skyline - one of those "you gotta be kidding me, that works?" kind of ideas. I remember seeing a video about it sometime in the 90s while I still served... would be great to find that again on YT.

[@Keimzelle]

@@SSGTru They tried these floodlights with naval attack planes. The plan was to make the plane blend in with the sky when it flew towards the opponent.

[@jaggedskar3890]

@@extragoogleaccount6061 Placing the lights evenly in front of the target caused it match the ambient background illumination which made the target disappear to the naked eye. And as mentioned above this technique was used on the leading edge of anti-submarine patrol bombers to blind U-boat crews long enough to be unable to dive in time to escape attack.

[@SSGTru]

@@Keimzelle I hadn't heard about that, thanks for the intel!

[@wolflegion_]

These pictures at 2:44 are the first time I’ve ever understood dazzle camouflage. I genuinely always figured they were just a bit mad back then 😂

[@jadegecko]

Interestingly, the first 'digital' camouflage, Dual-Tex, was invented specifically for tanks and other armored vehicles. (The idea was to add smaller blobs to the existing camouflage, to allow it to blend in when viewed at closer ranges or through binoculars.)

[@wallyvanzyl7394]

Having served in the SADF as a gunner in the artillery, I can attest to the comment on the difficulty of deploying printed camo nets. Trying to spread it or taking it down without without it snagging on anything and everything was impossible. And sometimes, as soon as everything seems to have settled down, the cry "cease fire, hook up" was heard. Enough to make a gunner use language that would not be acceptable in polite society. But...the chaps who manned the G5's in Angola during the Bush War were never discovered by the Angolan Air Force or the Cuban pilots searching for them. Strict fire discipline, superb camouflage and effective surveillance of the opposition's movements allowed the guns to be used to maximum effectiveness.

[@codedlogic]

Thank you so much, for the effort and expertise you bring to public. Your channel is truly a jewel in the KZbin military channels. (though you should do at least one video in a robot voice with stock footage just to remind us of all the effort and research your team puts into thier work).

[@sanfteliebemaschine7971]

I was a red leg in the US army and can confirm camo nets are a nightmare to deal with. My worst experience with a gun net is when we were rolling one up a fingernail got caught in it and the net ripped most of it off. Not a fun time.

[@bmcg5296]

Great in-depth chat by Chris into the age of camouflage from the early days of fighting tanks. Through to the modern digital era camouflaged tanks. We also mustn’t forget this was adapted into the very first aircraft used for war, to the stealth paints used in modern aircraft to reduce signatures in the air. The use of camouflage in WWI was important baby steps used by soldiers not so much uniforms until WW2. Even then it was limited use due to the possibility of blue on blue targets, mistaking them as Germans.

[@markmuldoon805]

A simple idea. A complex requirement. A clear explanation of the issues and solutions over the years. Excellent presentation.

[@williamwilliam5066]

I love how the Somua is cunningly camouflaged to be virtually invisible when behind a tank museum narrator. Exactly the same colours! :)

[@andrewclayton4181]

I remember a Sgt instructor starting his lecture. .... Camouflage is all about hiding, and it's an aspect of war I'm very keen on. Then he explained shine shadow shape, and all the other hints and tips for staying alive. It was entertaining and useful.

[@noahway13]

I used to hunt extensively.( in the states) and it was poor- kid subsistence hunting, not for sport. I noticed that the Mourning Dove has a coloration which blends into almost any ground environment. It may not be the best in every situation, but as a generalist it is by far the best. If you look at it closely it seems to be a combination of gray and pink. It blends in sandy soil, a plowed field, gravel, grass, etc.

[@kinnellian]

Nice to see other hunters weighing in... now, if that Mourning Dove moved....?

[@sebastiandomagala9233]

I remember a video about an electric APC. No more noise and heat. It wasn't any smaller though. And Germany had a stealth Leopard for tests. Worked well, but wasn't adopded.

[@billy4072]

That was excellent. Whoever thought of including the ginormous Humbrol paint pot , clip , deserves a sense of humour gallantry medal, …😂. Did well whoever you are .✅

[@darreng745]

That is part of the current exhibition on tanks in film and on tv, it is where the old tank factory section was at the museum, it is well worth a look as the young lad with me was taken with trying to build a lego tank while I was trying to figure out how books in the simulated library section I own!!

[@SchwarzeBananen]

I never knew about the vision ports (04:05). That is darn smart, and -- pun intended -- so evident to do that!

[@danpatterson8009]

Like Canada painting fake canopies on the bottoms of their Hornets so you couldn't tell if they were banking toward you or away from you. Simple, cheap, effective.

[@GoD_Quake]

That Berlin camouflage was quite good in the demonstration.

[@onkelmicke9670]

It is awesome.

[@MrSychnant]

I rread somewhere that a lot of WW2 firefly crews just painted the front half of the barrel white to reduce its apparent length from a distanc.

[@ctid107]

It would have been nice to hear about the modern tank "jackets" which also hide thermals.

[@kinnellian]

Anti-thermal is great advance in camouflage... against machines. If you move, death is merely a matter of time, and dumb luck.. Most beasts (including humans) don't see infra red...

[@ProfessorPesca]

Phenomenal video, that 20 minutes just flew by. Tank Museum’s videos just get better and better

[@depleteduraniumcowboy3516]

Well, you cannot hide how brilliant this episode is. I just love it when people who have served present as they have the inside knowledge. I still cringe thinking about those damned camo nets to this day.

[@DonMeaker]

A project at Aberdeen Proving Grounds was so effective that a range officer drove out to observe their progress. He pranged his jeep into a sitting armored vehicle, not having seen it.

[@AKUJIVALDO]

That's a better excuse than admitting drunk driving...

[@arostwocents]

That can't be true 😂

[@DonMeaker]

@@arostwocents True. One effective technique was using reflective mylar panels, so it looks like the ground.

[@kinnellian]

Because it wasn't moving...

[@DonMeaker]

@@kinnellian This was 30 years ago. More modern techniques use a back camera and projector to display the background on a forward screen. If the background isn't moving, then the image shown on the screen has no appreciable movement, even for a moving vehicle.

[@KnifeChatswithTobias]

I recall reading that early camouflage was greatly influenced by the Cubist movement in Art that was rampant at the time. A fighting withdrawal? That's odd! Our plan involved taking the select cities in what was called the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia at the time. Very cool and very interesting! Thanks!

[@NorceCodine]

Every GI I talked to who served in West Germany during the cold war told me that morale was low and they were drinking all the time, because they had no illusion how long they would live if the Warsaw Pact forces started rolling across the border from East Germany.

[@kevinmiller7792]

This is very interesting AND informative! Thank you.

[@thetankmuseum]

Our pleasure!

[@agn855]

Amazing German skill of the moderator! Oliv(e)-Grün" or "Hinterhalt-Tarnung" were pronounced correctly, so I’d guess this Gentleman was on duty in Germany?!

[@mymomsaysimcool9650]

When I was activated for Desert Storm, all our tanks and HUMVEEs had this awesome woodland pattern for combat in Eastern Europe. Our maintenance guys had to knock out hundreds of vehicles in desert sand color. Even the road wheels, treads, and tires were painted. It wore off, but looked comical coming out of the motor pool. I can still remember that smell of new paint.

[@tunakann7629]

Camouflage has to by the coolest part of anything! Animals, vehicles, people. It's my favorite subject

[@Keimzelle]

What I missed is that tank crews often hang up an old carpet at the front of the tank, and let it hang down between the treads. The "hole" below the tank chassis can be highly visible.

[@andrebartels1690]

I find this topic exceptionally interesting and I would totally love in-depth videos about its aspects. The evolution of paint colours, other characteristics of paints, characteristics and design of surfaces, noise and infrared camouflage, different smoke screens, everything with its pros and cons. Why were the desert rats pink? Why aren't there steady racks for camo netting on tanks that would help throw the netting over like a tent? Why aren't temporary quick-apply paints used that can be easily washed off? I believe there is very very much to tell.

[@anumeon]

The coolest in camo these days have to be the new stuff for the CV90 vehicle.. The adaptive camo that can make the IR signature change to more or less whatever you wish.

[@micketingis8351]

BAE Systems that make the CV90 has also made a variant/concept of this model. It’s called “the ghost”. It uses hexagonal shaped heaters to camouflage its heat signature and blend in with its surroundings.

[@norad_clips]

Mr Tank has learned the first rule of Not Being Seen.

[@Keimzelle]

Churchill, would you please stand up?

[@JZsBFF]

That was rather unexepected.

[@ZergrushEddie]

Want to say I appreciate the honesty of stating that the paint is a reconstruction. Far too many places would be willing to go "oh that beautiful paint job that sits upon our wonderful display, totally from the war!" I remember going to a castle museum in Germany where there was a suit of armor on display listed as 100% real and non-restored but there were Philip's head screws on the side of the helmet. Wonderful piece but "restored for display" would be been far more honest.

[@simongee8928]

A former German tank driver said about the Allied tanks in Normandy that the solid dark green used made them easier to see as they stood out as a regular shaped green lump.

[@cygnusx7]

Yes, the solid "dunkelgrau" from the Nazis must have been way better at hiding. ;)

[@benwilson6145]

If you want to make tanks disappear employ accountants!

[@bartosznowak3123]

You instantly reminded me "How not to be seen" by Monty Python;-D

[@renaissancemarinetv3536]

in the late 80s i witnessed experiments with rheostat lighting all over an armored personnel carrier at the school of infantry at camp lejeune. when the vehicle crested hills they would turn the lights to match the sky and the vehicle pretty much disappeared to the eye. dont know what happened with the concept. never saw it again.

[@andershansson2245]

Sublimely Shakespearian introduction with it's sublte repetition of the letter(s) "s", and another loverly glimpse of our beloved Stridsvagn S, I also fondly remember Humphrey Bogart in a Grant/Lee in "Sahara" (1943) from long-gone screenings on the telly as a child. Looked a bit like my dad he did too, or vice versa, but we didn't have too many tanks during WWII, so dad did his bit as a sparky in the Swedish Navy, as did my uncle who was on minesweepers at the time. But I do miss Workshop diaries.

[@anticarrrot]

Tanks are also very good at helping to camouflage other vehicles. Park one on top of a car for example, and former becomes almost completely invisible.

[@TheTaunusGap]

Aside from the well made and interesting video, I may point out the almost flawless german pronounciation. Well done.

[@fatherglyn]

Another brilliant video. Thank you

[@thetankmuseum]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@flameski_]

Thanks for this, I'm always on the lookout for new camo schemes for my Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard tanks :D

[@maxpayne2574]

A friend of mine was a tank driver in Germany in the 1980s. They were told it would likely take 15 minutes before they would be overrun by the masses of Russian armor.

[@leopardone2386]

I applaud your shoe horning of Olympic into this presentation. Maritime history and tanks are my two favorite things to learn about. When I get the opportunity to travel to the UK, Bovington and the White Swan Hotel are two must visit stops I will make.

[@johnlovett8341]

As a pretty sucky National Guard and Reserved Cav Scout, I was repeatedly impressed by how much simply being on the edge of a tree line, and hull down, hid things. Never perfect concealment by itself (especially with modern sensors) but a damned good start. Many a "Where the hell did that tank come from?"

[@joehough838]

Thank you for the comments on the cammo nets... Gods what a bugger to deal with!

[@sms042]

Great historical information., presented very well.

[@thetankmuseum]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@kensmith5694]

Another camouflage method someone told me about was distraction. A small group went to a place where the force wasn't and lit a fire. As soon as the fire was going they got the heck out of there. The method seemed to work because they did it again later.

[@spruce8537]

Tank's for this content.

[@erikarnold4737]

Imagine your grandpa telling stories of being in the 102nd inflatable Artillery Regiment or some such 9:02

[@charlesmaschi3238]

I appreciate your frustrations with camo netting. Great video.

[@chunkychunks857]

The mantra shape, shine, shadow & etc was lost on our senior ranks. In 1970 our bronze green equipment was taken away for repainting and came back a few days later with the new black/green camouflage scheme, nice and dull. The first thing we were told to do was... polish it!

[@funkkymonkey6924]

Aircraft camouflage is a fun subject. German WWII planes focused on painting their tops. Late war American aircraft eventually stopped getting paint because it cost money, added weight, and didn’t really do much in the air.

[@mrvn000]

Impressive imagery.

[@wouterhoogers2615]

waaaauw this is so much more interesting i would have ever imagined. 10 minutes in. Thank you for this deep information even with RAL!! This is fantastic. And it contains my favourite tanks too. Who cares about the new stuff. Different people will do that in 75 years or so

[@Pyjamarama11]

My grandfather served in a specialist camouflage division he left for war in 1940 his family never saw him again

[@MagnifiedGiant]

I watched this video and never saw a thing.

[@pRahvi0]

A very interesting video. While I knew some of it at least on some level through off-hand mentions as well as from experience in video games, this was a well put together collection of all the important aspects and a bunch of interestin details.

[@giovannifontanetto9604]

It's a really interesting video, but did not understood why this man is talking about tanks in an empty museum, also found really strange how he could sometimes float in the air.

[@logoseven3365]

1:19 Wow! That’s an incredible silhouette.

[@HUTZELMUTZEL]

Camouflage nets were created from fishing nets - camouflage material was tied in at the "Netzboden" where the nets were made by net makers

[@apathtrampledbydeer8446]

"Possibly the future tank will be like our stealth-tank" But I never saw a stealth tank in the video! AAAAhhhhhh!! Great video!

[@taldozer]

excellent production with excellent information.

[@jovanbernido4800]

"You're harder to see, you're harder to shoot at" bro there is a meaning here👀

[@kinnellian]

Very interesting video thanks. Especially the difference between offensive, and defensive thinking - which was perhaps glossed over a little) All effective camouflage is defensive - hide, and don't move. Move, and it's all over - why bother with camouflage indeed.

[@theromanorder]

Day 158 PLEASE DO MORE EVALUATION OF TANK DOCTRINES and evaluate of tank veiw ports and parascopes

[@whitehorsebricks2670]

I have to admit I once almost drove into a tank once that was crossing the road across Salisbury Plain. Thought wow I didn't see that there, then reflected and realised that that was the point of the tank really.

[@NorceCodine]

Couple of years ago I was taking pictures of a Tiger tank which had zimmerit applied to the surface, and I had to switch to manual focusing because I discovered that all the pictures were blurred because the zimmerit defeated the autofocus sensor of the camera.

[@mannofdober873]

Well, if a tank has a poorly designed ammunition storage system, and you hit in in the ammo store, then yes, you can make a tank disappear.

[@aymonfoxc1442]

I love how everything old eternally seems to be new again... A few examples include: - "There's no more 'other' side of the hill" (as argued from the invention of the hot air balloon to the aeroplane to the satellite to the drone) - "The tank is dead (as argued from before its inception when the British army said trenches weren't important enough to warrant such a machine to the invention of anti-tank rifles and use of artillery in a direct fire mode to the invention of man-portable rocket launchers, ATGMs and now drones) - "Cheap and simple is best" (as argued everytime a revolutionary but expensive military technology is invented and / or introduced)

[@typhvam5107]

Missed those amazing sky blue mixed with something else sort of camo, for costal or arid areas to blend with sky/sea backdrop Bright blue camo looks amazing too

[@chefchaudard3580]

During the interwar, some French tanks were camouflaged following the rules in WWI that the top of the tank, seen from a distance, should blend with the sky and the bottom with earth. some tanks were painted with colors going from brown at the bottom, going through dark and light greens, pink to light blue at the top. 😊 The black lines between the colors were found to be counterproductive after WWI, but were kept anyway.

[@gerat6534]

In ww1 and mid ww2 it was easy to camuflage a tank, everything was black and white😏

[@JZsBFF]

lol

[@Skipforwardmariejean]

Machine gunners were using camo netting in Jul 1918 to hide their position, they found it was important to spread out the edges if you don't want to be seen from above.

[@emmedigi89]

"In this picture there are forty people. None of them can be seen. In this film we hope to show you how not to be seen." Sorry, I could not resist.

[@larryfontenot9018]

Digital camouflage patterns all have the same thing in common. They don't help you or your vehicle blend in with anything except more digital camouflage. Some wag or other once dubbed a US camouflage pattern used on uniforms "universal". My impression of it was that it _was_ universal. Universally useless at concealing a soldier in any terrain he might be sent to.

[@Niinsa62]

That square West Berlin camouflage. I read an article about it a long time ago, in an Airfix Magazine I think. If I remember right, one thing the British found out was that the long antennas sticking up from the vehicles were easier to spot than the vehicles themselves. Since the antennas would look like distinct black vertical lines. The vehicle might even be hull down, totally hidden, and only the antenna sticking up, being clearly visible. So the British made sure to paint the antennas too, in bands of different colour, so that they weren't a distinct vertical black line. I wonder if this idea is still used? Or was it just the West Berlin unit that used it?

[@lewisjardine3624]

Yup, we humans have straight line detectors built into our eye-brain system...

[@BLACKTHUMB01]

I found this very interesting, especially the offensive and defensive camo characteristics.

[@kinnellian]

Makes sense -, as someone who hunts, stalks, and fishes - camouflage is highly effective when static (defence) the minute you move (offence) you are marked, and dead - therefore camouflage is superfluous

[@MrFederation]

The one thing about camouflage patterns that I have an enquiry about are the ones that use a range of colours that don't depict any average environment on Earth.