"US Artillery colours in Tunisia" Topic

Hello!

I' m having some trouble finding the correct colours for US Artillery in the Tunisian teatre of Operations during WWII.

In the box artwork of diferent manufacturers i have seen light brown and in others a dark brown green.

I' m looking for the colours for the M2A1 105 mm howitzers and Jeeps.

Can anyone help?

Bog standard vallejo brown violet for the duration of the war.

US Army artillery and vehicles throughout WWII were painted overall US Olive Drab, which is a fairly dark, brownish shade of green. However, there are several howevers to consider…

US OD could fade under harsh climate conditions, and could appear lighter under bright sunlight. Both were common in North Africa. If you're building a diorama or a force specifically for Tunisia, you might want to fade the equipment a few shades lighter than factory-fresh. Faded US OD tends to keep the brown cast.

And of course there's the argument that small models under indoor lighting appear darker than they really are, so should be lightened up a couple of shades for that reason.

Furthermore. The US Army in Tunisia experimented with some camouflage that seems to have been unique to that theater.

A few US vehicles in photos have a contrasting light paint color applied in large patterns. From b&w photos, the paint was a 'sand' shade, I can't tell whether pink or yellow. That paint may have come from local stocks.

At the time of the Torch landings, US forces were advised in directives to mix up a slurry of local mud and apply that to their vehicles and guns for camouflage. From photos, this was widely done at first, but soon fell into disuse. The mud was often applied in large patterns, sometimes to the vehicle overall.

In poor quality photos, it can be hard to tell whether you're looking at camouflage paint or mud.

In a few examples that I have traced back to original photos, color plates of US vehicles showing them in a light brown paint scheme overall have turned out to be artists' misinterpretations of either faded US OD under bright light, or overall mud camouflage.

@ Zippyfusenet thank you for your remarks.

Doing a Google search i found two colour photos of howitzers that are currently in museums.
In those photos they don't look like Olive Drab
National Museum WWII
link
1st Cavalry Museum Fort Hood
link

Maybe more of a light green brown.

For the Vallejo Model Colour range whitch colours do you think are suitable, for US Olive Drab, use Vallejo Model Colour Brown Violet. And for a more faded US Olive Drab after some months in the sun? And a colour looking like the one in The photos?

Also a Jeep in Tunisia colour photo with a camoflaged patern. Do you think it's US Olive Drab with patches of 'mud' paint? The darker colour seems to clear to be Olive Drab.

Thanks for the help!

I couldn't find any photo of a howitzer at your first link. The one at Fort Hood looks several shades lighter than I would expect. Museum pieces are often repainted, not always in the original colors. Faded US OD might appear nearly that light in very bright sunlight, but this paint looks fresh and the light isn't that glaring.

I don't use Vallejo colors and can't offer an opinion.

Without looking at the photo of the jeep, I couldn't offer an opinion. I think patterns of lighter color paint on US vehicles in Tunisia are very likely to be mud over OD. Is the photo clear enough that you can make out the texture of the paint? The mud often looks a little rough in a really clear photo.

Found a better link for you to see the Howitzer on the first link, link

Sorry, i forgot to put the photo of the Jeep. Here it is:
link
Looks too professional, not only some splatters of mud paint.

On your usual range of paint brands whitch colours would you use for a US Olive Drab bleached by the sun, and also a colour for the colours you see in the pictures. I will try to find an equivalency.

I can't tell anything about that howitzer, the indoor lighting is too weird.

The color photo of the jeep is very interesting, likewise the trailer behind it. I think the dark color on the jeep is fresh US OD. That's how dark it was. The photo is a little greener than I'd expect, but that could be an effect of the color processing. Also, the paint wasn't perfectly consistent from one batch to the next.

That seems to be the same 'sand paint' on the jeep and the trailer. I think it's local mud slurry. Look at how closely it matches the ground they're standing on. Notice how the 'paint' is wearing off the trailer side and especially the trailer roof. This is characteristic of the mud slurry, which didn't hold up well to rain or even heavy dew. The jeep is in better condition, but I see some thinning when I look closely.

The edges of the pattern on the jeep and around the insignia look sharp, but the photo isn't really that close up. Maybe the lieutenant in charge of the motor pool in that unit was a PITA about cammo application.

I don't think there's any 'blue surround' to the star insignia on the jeep or the trailer. I think those are circles of the original OD paint, left unmudded.

That's my two cents.

Paint is a tough one. I haven't painted that much US WWII armor lately. I'm an old enamels guy, but I use mainly craft paints on 15mm and 28mm figures these days, and I haven't yet found a really good US OD for vehicles and artillery in the cheap acrylics.

I'm still using up an old bottle of Pactra OD enamel, but it's really too dark for the small scales I work in. I just bought a bottle of Testor's OD to put on a 1/260 B-17, it looks like it will be about right if I can thin it enough. This is the cheap 'pla enamel' stuff in quarter ounce bottles, not the fancy acrylic formulated for airbrushing.

And now you know everything I know. Best of luck.

Actually, that paint I bought is Testor's Artillery Olive. It's a little greener than I like, but it will do. Testor's OD is much darker.

On the Batlefront Forum i made the same questions i made here. According to Evan (one of the administrators) the US, only used the Olive Drab, with maybe some exceptions but nothing usual. Of course the paint would bleach by the sun.

The answer to the out of the ordinary colours on the Howitzers in the museums was, it's a mistake! :D

The Jeep is from de US Air Force.

As far as i was able to notice, for the Vallejo painters the usual color to paint Olive Drab, is Vallejo Model Color Bronw Violet.

Thanks for the help Zippyfusenet!

One more thing.

There was no US Air Force in 1942. The United States Army Air Force was established as a branch of the Army in 1941, replacing the earlier US Army Air Corps, and remained such until the Air Force was established as an independent service in 1947.

Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys give 'er the gun!
Down we dive spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame
Or go down in flame, HELL!
Nothing can stop the Army Air Corps!