dustyvon Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 I have a new old stock water can which is green with ‘Water’ and Vocabulary number stencilled on the side. Definitely original paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyvon Posted September 12, 2018 Author Share Posted September 12, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchFuzee Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 The whole thread is interesting. Photo of white water cans (page 3) Normandy July 44:- http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=25034&page=2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyvon Posted September 12, 2018 Author Share Posted September 12, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
79x100 Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyvon Posted September 12, 2018 Author Share Posted September 12, 2018 Ah, that's a new one on me. Sounds logical if it was a colour that was in existence at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REME 245 Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyvon Posted September 13, 2018 Author Share Posted September 13, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchFuzee Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 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 381CColour reference: BS381 626Description: Camouflage grey Or the darker grey? Colour Range: BS 381CColour reference: BS381 629Description: Dark camouflage grey For both search "camouflage grey" here:- https://www.e-paint.co.uk/Lab_values.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyvon Posted September 13, 2018 Author Share Posted September 13, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 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) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchFuzee Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Post #50 has a colour chart from 1944 showing No 31 Light Battleship Grey next to No 32 Dark Battleship Grey so is No 31 now Light Grey BS381 631? https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234987340-how-green-was-my-interior-or-was-it-grey-plus-info-on-bs381/&page=2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Yes it was renamed to that in 1949 after the big 1948 rewrite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyvon Posted September 13, 2018 Author Share Posted September 13, 2018 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyvon Posted September 14, 2018 Author Share Posted September 14, 2018 Last thought. I'm guessing that the original colour is most likely to have been BS 987c SCC 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rania Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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