"Mid and late war British armour colours" Topic

I'm going to paint some 15mm stuff and have some questions.

I know that pre April 1944 the base colour for British built armoured vehicles was S.C.C.2 (brown), and that the base colour for post April 1944 British built armoured vehicles was S.C.C.15 (olive drab).
I also know that lend lease armoured vehicles were delivered in (US) olive drab, and pre April 1944 got often re-painted in S.C.C.2
My question is if units deployed vehicles in both colours at the same time.
Would it, for instance, be normal to see olive drab Staghounds next to brown Daimlers?

Another colour question concerns the Sherman Firefly.
Were these entirely (re)painted in S.C.C.15, or were their hulls (US) olive drab and their turrets (partly) S.C.C.15?

When they got repainted, they would be completely repainted – not just bits and pieces.

I'd also add that any 'rest' period for a unit would normally be spent cleaning and painting, so vehicles would be repainted quite soon after issue to a unit if they had not al;ready been repainted.

So, just to be sure we're on the same page here; when Shermans got converted into Fireflies they always got a complete new paint job.
As a result Fireflies painted US Olive Drab never existed and only the first batch of Fireflies came in S.C.C.2 (but got soon repainted in S.C.C.15 by their own units after April 1944.)

Regarding the "mixed colour" units; Before April 1944 all Lend-Lease vehicles would have been quickly repainted in S.C.C.2, and post April 1944 British manufactured vehicles would all be (re) painted in S.C.C.15 and all Lend-Lease vehicles would retain their original US Olive Drab paint jobs (unless they needed a new paint job for some reason, in which case they would be painted in S.C.C.15 too.)

So for the post D-day northwest European theatre all British manufactured vehicles and all pre April 1944 delivered Lend-Lease vehicles should be painted in S.C.C.15, and all post April 1944 delivered Lend-Lease vehicles can be painted either US Olive Drab or S.C.C.15 (fresh paint job.)

Correct?

Yes, that's right, Fireflies always got a complete paint-job. SCC2-painted vehicles unquestionably made it to France. Exactly how many is impossible to tell, as black & white photography doesn't reveal colour and that sort of detail wasn't officially documented. However, they would only last as long as a unit was in action – as soon as they came out of action for more than a couple of days the paint-brushes would come out.

The same is true of US OD – it would quickly be replaced by SCC15 (especially if a tank had applique armour plates and/or stowage boxes welded on, or some other major body-work).

Thanks Jemima