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Paint Colour - 2 Gallon POW tins


dustyvon

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Does anyone have a definitive answer as to the best BS381 colour for late war 2 gallon water cans? I believe they ought to be grey (early war - white, commonly green if on a vehicle or brown for 43rd Div post DDay) but is that 629, dark camouflage grey, 632, dark admiralty grey or indeed another grey altogether?  Anyone tried to match an original to a current colour code?

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Curious. I'd assumed that green cans were associated with vehicle painting and not issued from scratch. I know someone quoted the 43rd War Diary with regard to brown and that grey was the 'official' replacement colour for white - except I'd be happier if I had the document reference to back it up. 

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It seems to be that green, brown, grey, perhaps black were all used but that if you wanted your water to taste of water white was the best bet - just not a great idea to strap to the side of your AFV! Which still leaves me wondering - which grey. Guess I'm not likely to find the answer to that.

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The slightly bluish grey on the cans in the MLU thread look to me like the colour known in the pre-war official nomenclature of paints held by the R.A.O.C. as "Grey, ammn" which was commonly used on markings and colour codings. It would seem a logical shade where the colour had an indicative use.

I'm not sure where ammunition grey would be detailed though.

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Post #82 http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=25034&page=3

Is an interesting one for the brown water can denyers as brown persisted into the immediate post-war period. It interesting to see a documented starting point & for some documented continuation of brown, see my post on 10th August 2011

 

 

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I have seen the 43rd Recce War Diary reference to painting the cans brown and I assumed it was more to do with camouflage  rather than signifying content.   There may also have been stenciling on the cans.  The vast majority of british and canadian manufactured vehicles that went to France in 1944 must still have been painted brown so they were just painting them to match.

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That's an interesting thread I hadn't picked up on. Thanks. Quite definitive on the 41/2 gall can history and clearly many folk are confused by the existence into recent times of the black version. Just wish I could put my hands on something similar for the 2 gall POW can. I've got two without the Petroleum Spirit stamping which I'm assuming are for water - and other substances. If, as suggested and seems likely, the 43rd order is based on camouflage to match vehicles then the question is how widespread a practice was it - or were most cans still in white/grey as the 'official' correct colours.  

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19 hours ago, dustyvon said:

Which still leaves me wondering - which grey. Guess I'm not likely to find the answer to that

Could this be the grey?

Colour Range: BS 381C
Colour reference: BS381 626
Description: Camouflage grey       

Or the darker grey?

Colour Range: BS 381C
Colour reference: BS381 629
Description: Dark camouflage grey

For both search "camouflage grey" here:-

https://www.e-paint.co.uk/Lab_values.asp

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I was thinking one of those. Or Dark Admiralty Grey 632. The pics of original painted cans that exist are very difficult to judge (quality of screen, printer etc) so it's a question of what SCC code merged into which BS381 code. I suspect the Ammunition Grey referred to earlier was probably the bullet nose colour for night tracer, which was apparently a very light colour.

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According to the records I have:

626 Camouflage Grey was not added until 1988

629 Quaker Grey

632 Dark Battleship Grey became Dark Admiralty Grey in 1949

Prior to 1948 the previous standard of 1931 used only two digits, so of those there was just 29 & 32. (At that time 26 was Middle Brunswick Green later to become 226)

 

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Thank you all, I begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel! Options for a 1944 grey are therefore 29 Quaker Grey - assuming that to be the original name and the camouflage grey handle being added later- which doesn't seem a likely military colour, or 31 Light Battleship Grey or 32 Dark Battleship Grey. Accepting fading/rusting/photos/monitors/printers etc the only water cans I've seen in grey look to me more like 32 than 31. I think I'm therefore coming down on water cans being 632 if in grey, or 298 for later war vehicles or 499 for brown. -Ish!

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  • 1 month later...

 

I was having a job getting paint.   My last batch of GMC olive drab was more Landrover series one mid gloss green.  I was not impressed.

I found a company called Paints4Trade. that I'd not heard of before.  They charged me £39.99 for 5 litres  of army paint (loads of military colours there)  delivered to my door.   They also do  bus/commercial paints. 

I have no affilliation whatsover to this company and I'm nor recommending them - just sharing  hoping it saves somebody a few quid.

Link here:

https://www.paints4trade.com/military-vehicle-paints-104-c.asp

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