lssah2025 Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Finally taking delivery of my Humber Scout next week :yay:, I have some minor work on it to finish it out. 1. skid plate on chassis 2. internal map/lube chart holder 3. sten mag holder over escape door 4. sten mag holder behind commander 5. straps for bren drums 6. handles with stops for roof sliding doors 7. head rest for driver 8. movement of water bottle carrier and manufacture of 2nd one 9. straps for smatchet and wire cutters 10. installation of 19 set and ancillaries 11. dreaded PLM mount etc... I am going to respray the exterior and interior after all the new parts are made/fitted. Question is, what color should I use on the exterior and interior? I know they used silver early on and then went to white, but what type or color would work the best and be the most durable for both exterior and interior? Pics: http://www.warwheels.net/humberscout2varga.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bedford Boys Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I personally would go for white on the inside. I believe it to make the interiors of vehicles look lighter and cleaner than the silver. Exterior I would keep it the colour it is, sure does look tasty in that colour. I envy you so very much!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Unless you find evidence to the contrary in your vehicle, I would paint it silver. White was used for a fairly short time during the war and silver again became the preferred colour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 Thanks, any info on the proper color of silver or white or exterior color, would olive drab be appropriate, most of the pics I have seen have been a flat color, and mine is glossy. Also I thought the color silver was used up until 42, was it used later? I want to get it right and have seen both colors used in some of the museum vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bedford Boys Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 The thing is with most military vehicles is that there is no "right" colour. Alot of people get hung up about "originality". In the field, the vehicles would've been repainted with what was at hand, the wouldn't have cared about what colour it was. I say paint it whatever colour you like, it's your vehicle after all.:yay::-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REME 245 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 They changed from silver to white for a short period when the necessary pigments were in short supply. Depending on how good the restoration job has been you may be able to remove a fitting some where and find some of the original colour. The original exterior colour will depend on when it was manufactured. Most of the Humber MKIV Armoured Cars came out of the factory in brown but that is because they were manufactured during 1942-3. If your Scout Car is 1944 is is likely to be British Olive drab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 It is a 44 manufactured Scout, and was a ground up restoration, haven't been able to tear into it yet, so it is safe to say that the brown would be more appropriate..cheers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REME 245 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Depends when in 44 it was manufactured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 Darn, :argh:.....bollocks isn't anything easy? OK still trying to figure that out, what would of been the changeover date or what colours would be appropriate for that year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 The date of the colour change would have taken time to take effect in the factories. Existing paint stocks would probably have been used up first so in the end, it will be up to you! The brown would have been SCC2 and olive drab SCC15. This is not the same as US olive drab but is still a British Standard colour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 So, has it arrived yet? Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefano Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 (edited) The accepted wisdom is that the vehicles bound for the second front were to be as far as possible in the new (green) colour scheme, class A vehicles obviously having priority. If your Humber dates from 1944 I would say that the chances are that the British olive drab (S.C.C. 15) is pretty much on the money unless you can find positive traces of brown somewhere a sandblaster has "feared to tread". Luckily, our Humber is a late '43 and was destined for Italy so no problems there. As regards the interior, it's not that easy to say what it could have been, unless you can find that the majority of your parts were painted a certain colour originally. If in doubt I would go with white, late war Humbers were generally painted that way, and it's a damn sight easier to keep clean than silver, but remember to do the interior "eggshell" (semi gloss), because that was the way it was originally. It was a special type of paint, with a floury sort of structure, so that it didn't break off in shards if the hull received a glancing blow (standard gloss would have been as good as shrapnel in that sort of situation) Edited December 24, 2009 by Stefano Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Thanks again for the info, as of 12/28 container has not arrived in St. Louis:argh:, it was suppose to hit the US coast on 12/16 and delivered 12/21. I am coming back from Christmas holiday tomorrow from Texas, hopefully I will get a call in the next day or so, I head back to the middle east on 1/3/10...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REME 245 Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 The question on whether vehicles were brown or green at at the time of D Day is an interesting one and may never be 100% resolved. The majority of the British manufactured vehicles taking part in D Day must have been manufactured in Brown and to repaint tens of thousands of vehicles of all types in green prior to June 44 must have been a major under-taking. The war Diary of 43rd Recce records instructions to paint all water cans brown just prior to D Day. I am assuming prior to this they were white and they were painting them to match the vehicles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Sounds reasonable, don't think they would take days or months to paint all the vehicles the same color, would be a total waste of time and manpower, but I do remember painting rocks in the marines, so who knows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefano Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 This is going to be long winded but nonetheless.. As I understand it the changeover from S.C.C. 2 to S.C.C. 15 began in April 1944. Vehicles painted overall olive drab were kept in storage for the second front, the rationale being that any vehicle near the front line not painted green and covered in stars was going to be shot up by "friendly" fire. Bear in mind that the Italian theatre was consuming vast quantites of men and machines at the time, and seeing as S.C.C.2 was the accepted camouflage scheme for British and Commonwealth vehicles, it's not too difficult to imagine that the bulk of reserve category A vehicles in this colour scheme were sent to this theatre. Softskins were treated differently of course, the need for them to be in a unified camouflage scheme being less important, although everything got its allocation of stars. Of course there were exceptions to the rule, as there always will be, and there is evidence of brown painted tanks being operative during the invasion period, but on balance I would expect any armoured vehicle that served on the western front built after April '44 to have been painted S.C.C. 15 olive drab at source. Another point to remember is that as far as I've been able to ascertain, the only British tanks used in Italy were the Churchill and Valentine (especially the Bridgelayer), so any Cromwells, Cavaliers, Centaurs or even Challengers that were painted brown would have had nowhere else to go except France. Humbers were used on both fronts, therefore making it easier to decide what went where. All pure conjecture of course, but seems logical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Great info, cheers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Just got the latest news, it still hasn't cleared US customs and is sitting in the rail yard in St. Louis :angry , probably won't be delivered now until Monday the 4th, one day after leaving to go back overseas :argh:... So I won't get to see it now until March 2010:angry......Will have to have my buddy send me pics...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 Humber delivered around the 10th of January, my mech started going over it to get it in good shape and found antifreeze coming from the head and it appeared it was leaking from a possible overheated engine. It was dry and around most of the head, and some leaking from the radiator. 3/8 he started getting into the engine, he took the head off, and found" first ALL hardware was finger loose, everywhere! very few nuts or bolts were tight, which really worries me. The entire engine needs to be checked over, tighten everything down to specs, assuming we can get them. Next, the pistons are new, liners look new, mileage on these look very light, very low miles. Head gasket looks pretty new, but lots of internal rust everywhere. In the lines, radiator etc, its really rusty. Will have the head at the machine shop tomorrow to be checked out. Head gasket has small triangle holes on one side only. Yes the one is the picture you sent. But we may or may not need a thicker one, wont know yet. I need engine specs badly, internal specs. From what I have apart, most looks rigged. Carberator is incorrect based on the base gasket which is a four hole, the carb is a two hole, they piled up 3-4 gaskets and bolted it one. I will let you know more tomorrow. Bloody ell,,,,,well at least the engine will be up to 100% par when he is done.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Given that earlier in the thread you said it was a ground up restoration, I'd imagine you must be a little dissappointed with what you are finding...... I hope it's all superficial, I would love a Humber Scout, good on you for having one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 Yes, I am a little upset , but like everything else, someone elses ground up mechanical/body restoration is different from my interpretation. Most of the external/interior and cosmetics are very nicely restored from the newer pics that my mech have sent. The fuel tank has rust in it, some of the fuel lines were a little rigged, I am having the fuel tank removed, boiled out and resealed, and having the fuel lines/fixed replaced, the overflow line replaced, carb rebuilt with a new gasket kit, and making sure the mechanical components are up to par... I was going to have him go over it anyway when it came in to make sure it was running good and up to par anyway. The engine is probably going to be removed if the hydrostatic test comes up bad, the head will go out and be checked to see if it is warped, and maybe the engine will come out and be sent and checked to see if there are any cracks in it, if it ran hot...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted March 11, 2010 Author Share Posted March 11, 2010 Here are some pics of the engine compartment showing the radiator fluid and then with the head off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted March 26, 2010 Author Share Posted March 26, 2010 Ok is the bronze green a flat or a gloss? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefano Posted March 27, 2010 Share Posted March 27, 2010 Bronze green? It's gloss, but wouldn't be anywhere near correct for the Humber. The correct colour would be S.C.C. 15 olive drab, and it's matt. The Starmer book gives you the mix to make it up from Humbrol enamels, after that you could get it matched up. I know that there are companies that sell paint ready made but I have no experience with these, although I'm sure that others on the forum will have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted March 27, 2010 Author Share Posted March 27, 2010 Sorry that was suppose to be British olive drab (S.C.C. 15), it appears the color on mine is a (glossy) bronze green or similar color. I wanted to respray it in the next few months after some mechanical and body work is done. I will have to go to our local hobby shops to try and find the correct color and then have it matched for my Humber, since I can't have paint shipped from the UK in the amount I need to respray it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.