"1960s and 1960s US and German Tank Colors?" Topic

I believe, from reading a bit, that Gelb Olive is the color for the West German Bundeswehr vehicles of this period, and suspect Olive Drab is for the US vehicles.

However, in both cases, on-line images from Google, and other sources appear to have a much more brown cast to them.

Perhaps it is due to the film of the day, lighting conditions, my computer monitor setting, etc.

I don't believe that to be true in all cases though, since even some modern pics of some vehicles, especially Bundeswehr armor, are decidedly brownish as well.

So, I'm just curious to see if there was another interim color during some period, prior to the West German three-color camo being used, and prior to the American MERDC schemes?

For example, a lot of the mid-late 1960s M-60 tanks, and other AFVs look to be a "milk chocolate" to "dark chocolate" color, with large white stars on them.

Also, I've noticed that a lot of the Jagdpanzers appear to be of a similar color as well, to maybe more of an olive drab hue, but certainly not the olive, or olive-gray color I've read about as being the official color for them.

For the USA, some of the shots were of vehicles on maneuvers in Germany, so not suspect to the wrong colors being applied by a museum.

For the West German armor, I suspect if Olive Gelb is the official color, then perhaps they've just painted them with leftover paint from other nations, or whatever they had lying around, if the film stock isn't to blame (note, some appear to be recent, digital photos, so I'm not sure that is the issue).

Did US and/or German paint schemes post-WWII go through different phases, prior to the three to four color camo schemes they used back in the 1970s and 1980s?

Here are a few examples, and/or contradictions that I'm talking about, e.g. M60s on parade, and display, in Berlin (apparently, some have had baby oil, or other treatments applied, to make them look nice and shiny):

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See differences in color between the M60A1 and M60A2 in the link just above, at Fort Knox.

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Hmmm, can't get the above pic to post here for some reason, directly, but it looks like the best reference for a very faded, olive gelb, to me. Probably been out in the sun a bit too long, making it lighter than it should be, but certainly not the more brownish color of other vehicles shown frequently for West German armor.

Well, WW2 OD would fade brownish (as was just black and yellow paint mixed together), but I am not convinced BW vehicles would be allowed to fade to that colour without being repainted, it was notionally peacetime after all.

That jagdpanzer still looks dark green to me, albeit with an olive tint.

Both Jagdpanzers are painted Gelboliv. One seems freshly painted, the other not. Gelboliv went on very dark, but faded to a brownish olive drab color

Aren't both of the Jagdpanzers pictures above of the same vehicle? It's just the light difference causing the apparent change in color shade

To me, and from descriptions I've read, the bottom one appears to be the more correct shade of color.

However, I see an awful lot of pics of the darker one, and that matches better with the ROCO tanks, which I'm told are also the correct shade, and don't need repainting, if you don't want to.

I wasn't aware that the US olive drab would fade to the more brownish color, so appreciate the info on that. I have seen quite a few vehicles that appear to me to be more brown that O.D., or green, like anticipated. Most of those are from the 1960s, and/or early 1970s, I suspect, so perhaps they changed their paint mixture, later.

Steve Zaloga is one of the leading historical experts on WW2 American Armor as well as being a modeler. Here are his comments on faded American colors in Normandy:

"Added to this issue is the matter of paint fading and weathering effects. Dark coloured paints fade. Remember that many US tanks deployed in Normandy in 1944 had been manufactured and painted one or two years before and had been sitting out in the sun for most of that time. To make matters worse, the colour fades in different ways depending on the paint formulation. For example, wartime US Olive Drab tended to fade towards the ochre as will be evident to anyone who saw a lot of wartime vehicles. Likewise, the changed paint formulations of the post-war years led to different fading effects with some of the paint fading towards a greyer shade, and some to a reddish-purplish tinge, evident to anyone who has visited Aberdeen Proving Ground over the years! Weathering also tends to lighten the colour since most dust and dirt is lighter in colour than Olive Drab."

This is from an article he wrote on American Olive Drab which appears in it's entirety here:

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"Aren't both of the Jagdpanzers pictures above of the same vehicle?"

They are indeed.

But no telling if the photos were taken 5 mins or 5 years apart

Based on the foliage and staining on the brick, I'd lean more to 5 minutes than 5 years. I think the difference is entirely due to the angle of the sun.