question British world war two paint colours/suppliers

[ColinR]

Good afternoon all,

 

Help! Been hunting round various threads trying to get info on best authentic looking colours for World War 2 paint. Looking at the mid/late war (As its for a Bedford QL).

 

I have seen Guy's Bedford Restoration thread and love the colour he's painted his wagon. But can't go down the route of sourcing the Renault colour etc etc.

 

Sooo I'm after a colour which you consider to be correct so I can tidy up My Ql's until I can do a proper job on them. Ideally needs to be brushed/rollered on.

 

So Ladies and gentlemen can you let me know of any suppliers YOU would recommend.

 

Many thanks

[matchlesswdg3]

Have a look at War Paint on Milweb.......you can phone them up and I am sure they can suggest the best scheme for what you want...... http://www.milweb.co.uk/dealer/76377/

[thedawnpatrol]

I have used Warpaint for several projects now and very pleased whether sprayed or painted.

I have done a lot of research re ww2 British paint colours, but the best source is Mike Starmers book.

 

Early/ Mid war, your looking at khaki green No3 or later (1944/45) British olive drab.

 

Warpaint will help and mix to your finish, I always go for full Matt.

 

Jules

[ColinR]

Many thanks Ferg & Jules, I'll drop them a line!

[fv1609]

The definitive chart with 3x3 in. samples is in:

 

War Emergency

British Standard 987C : 1942

Incorporating amendments issued December, 1944 and July 1945

CAMOUFLAGE COLOURS

September 1942

 

There is well preserved copy in the library of Bovington Tank Museum referenced as:

623.77 (41)

CAMOUFLAGE/23

[simon king]

Good afternoon all,

 

Help! Been hunting round various threads trying to get info on best authentic looking colours for World War 2 paint. Looking at the mid/late war (As its for a Bedford QL).

 

Many thanks

 

In terms of the colours and their application, the best reference you can currently get for British Colours in North West Europe is the Mike Starmer book. it includes colour chips

 

http://www.aviationbookcentre.com/military_pre_1946/british_army_colours__disruptive_camouflage_in_the_united_kingdom_france__nw_europe_193645/4388_p.html

 

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/books/pb/starmer_bacdc.html

 

sk

[Ron]

Well if you go for paint from a UK auto paint supplier (I use polyurethane mat from Rainbow Paints). The British standard numbers are BS 499 for Service Brown and BS 298 for Olive Drab. It's my understanding that vehicles mid war were Service Brown and British Olive Drab came in 1944 to fall in line with the US colours. Ron

[ColinR]

Thanks gents, will have a look at the Mike Starmer book. Will also have a look at those codes to see how they all compare!

[MatchFuzee]

You may find the colour chart here helpful:-

 

http://www.e-paint.co.uk/search_colour.asp

[ploughman]

This topic is regularly discussed on Railway forums as well in relation to what colour a Coach or a Loco should be painted.

 

One comment that stuck with me is that when going through the works paint shop who made up the colour of the paint?

It was probably a painter who had a colour recipe sheet stuffed in his back pocket that said something like 2 parts Dark Green, 1 part Black and a dash of yellow.

Then remember that every works would have a slightly different recipe sheet.

 

I would imagine that the same situation would be applicable to Military workshops as well.

 

Also how many times have you run low on paint from manufacturer A and mixed it up with a tin from Manufacturer B?

[Ron]

Yes Bryan, what happened in REME workshops is one thing, but I think the colour codes stated by the War Office for a factory finish would have been much more stringent. Very probably there could have been shade variation between paint manufacturers of course. That still happens these days at B&Q, even with modern technology. Ron

[RAFMT]

Thanks gents, will have a look at the Mike Starmer book. Will also have a look at those codes to see how they all compare!

I'd say you could nab the one on my desk, only I've cleared my stuff into boxes! Pass by when you can and I'll dig it out for you.

 

Bryan