Tank Interior Colour

[Wayne Henderson]

After Gina did all that work on exterior colours of Armoured vehicles I didn't want to ask this question in that thread.

What colour and gloss level of white was used inside armoured vehicles?

My concern is the Staghound / M6 interior.
So far I have opened 4 different boxes with NOS parts in and found 4 different colours. These parts may have come from different suppliers?

"Off white" is the colour that I find mostly and one of the .30 ammo can holders I have from deep inside the vehicle has its original finish.

Wayne.

[tankbarrell]

White was the original colour but it was not the very bright white we get today. 70 years changes white even with no exposure to light or air.

[Andrew Rowe]

Is it true that the engine bay area on British wartime tanks were silver and just the fighting / driving compartments white? Were as American Armored vehicles used white all the way through? The engine bay area of our M3 has green undercoat with white painted just where the engine resides.

[tankbarrell]

US vehicles were white throughout, British were silver throughout, then white for a time before returning to silver late war.
Engine bay and fighting compartment were always the same colour except for open topped afv's.

[Lauren Child]

Originally Posted by tankbarrell

US vehicles were white throughout, British were silver throughout, then white for a time before returning to silver late war.
Engine bay and fighting compartment were always the same colour except for open topped afv's.

Post war, the fighting compartment of my Charioteer was painted white (presumably before sale to Jordan), though the engine bay was still silver.

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Hi Wayne,
Got inside an 8/13th Staghound when it was moved to Bandiana years ago, it was certainly white inside, a slightly off white that could well have been a gloss white originally.
The white certainly seemed to make it roomier than I was expecting.
Rich.