| Texas Grognard | 10 Mar 2010 4:39 p.m. PST |
Howdy y'all! I am working on a British motor company for Flames of War. My questions are as follows. On M5 halftracks were the overal interior colors the same as the exterior or was it different? What color was the seating? Lastly were the interior hatches on British tanks painted a different color from the exterior. Anyhoo thanks in advance for any help and salut y'all! Bruce the Texas Gorgnard |
aecurtis  | 10 Mar 2010 5:06 p.m. PST |
Same as exterior. OD canvas; this is an M2, but you get the idea: link Same as exterior. Allen |
| Jemima Fawr | 10 Mar 2010 6:13 p.m. PST |
I believe that tank interiors were silver as an anti-flash measure, but I still paint them green… |
| aecurtis | 10 Mar 2010 6:24 p.m. PST |
Are we talking about the interiors of the turrets, or the interior surface of the hatches, which when opened, would be visible? Allen |
| Jemima Fawr | 11 Mar 2010 8:56 a.m. PST |
Both. I can't confirm the accuracy of this, though the chap who told me is more knowledgeable about such things than me. Personally, I don't like the look of silver hatch interiors, so I leave them green. |
| aecurtis | 11 Mar 2010 10:46 a.m. PST |
Well… Peter Brown says that BEF tank interiors were painted aluminum: link …but the interior of the Matilda I hatches don't look it. US practics was to paint the hatch interiors OD, so Lend-Lease Shermans in general are no guide. But Lend-Lease Shermans would have gone a complete turret rebuild and paint when converted to Fireflys, so… link Cromwells? Can't depend on models (white interior, green hatch interior): link Not so easy to find open hatch photos, except for Flames of War product shots (green, by the way). Not sure I'd trust the artists' cutaway on the cover of the Cromwell Osprey (white). Ah, what do I know, anyway? Ask Evan.  Allen |
| reddrabs | 11 Mar 2010 2:09 p.m. PST |
I remember talking to several tankers : they all remember sanding down interior paint to minise the chances of bits of paint being knocked off by small calibre hits and blinding them |
| Etranger | 11 Mar 2010 5:35 p.m. PST |
IIRC (& without my books to hand) the aluminium colour was used in the earlier part of the war, with a white colour being adopted later. I thought that the British followed a similar practice to the Americans & used camouflage paint on the hatch interiors. |
| HesseCassel | 11 Mar 2010 9:36 p.m. PST |
I guess I'd paint my open hatch interiors something "a little different" just to create contrast. I have trouble believing the insides of hatches were a bright color like white – I can see a different "camo" or drab color, but not white. |
| colkitto | 12 Mar 2010 8:45 a.m. PST |
I've always thought the interiors of tanks were silver coloured early war, later white; and that the insides of hatches, which would be visible from the outside when open, would be the same colour as the outside of the tank. |
| Jemima Fawr | 12 Mar 2010 12:02 p.m. PST |
That certainly would make sense… What a relief to know I was right all along in painting my hatches green! ;o) |
