Ford F22 has desert paint ?

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Lauren Child

It seems to go

Tan
Medium grey
Slightly lighter grey + yellow flecks (Yellow was her civvy colour)
darker green (Brian's restoration)
Grey
lighter green (later repaint)

I've not seen any sign of red lead, but the metalwork beneath the Tan has a dark finish which could be the remnants of an anti-corrosion finish (I've seen similar darkenned metal on other vehicles)

There's no layer for her in-service as I'd imagined, unless it was the tan or the medium grey (navy?).

I figured she'd have left the factory in SCC15 green but there's not a layer for that....

Lauren,

It could well have been painted "Light Stone" as it was officially known, or at least parts of the vehicle (as Phil noted). On this forum there are some pictures of trucks being assembled, e.g. green chassis with sand coloured cabs, only to be sprayed a uniform colour after final assembly and testing (see below).

My F15A also has a Light Stone base colour on at least the cab steps and tailgate where the later top layers have been chipped or worn off.

As your F22 was assembled in November 1945, chances are high the Ford factory used up any parts and paint they had in stock, rather than complying to contract specs and buying new paint. Seeing the late build date, I suspect your F22 was shipped to the UK and then re-assembled by a company like Pearson's. Surplus stocks of unused military vehicles were sold off to civilian users, often in (grey?) primer, ready for the new owner to apply their livery of choice.

Please keep recording the paint colours you come across, it's a vital part of "CMP archeology"

HTH,
Hanno


Linked from Ford Canada Factory....

[Lauren Child]

Aha, interesting stuff. Thanks Hanno!

I've just ordered a BS381 colour swatch card set so I can see if it looks like Light Stone.

I've also picked up Mike Starmer's colour guides, so hopefully between them we'll be able to identify the colour

[Lauren Child]

Today I got out there during a sunny patch and had another go. It looks like there is green under the sand after all, but it's a very very thin layer.

The sand colour itself is close to (post war) 361 light stone, but has a touch of green in it.

See the attached photos - the colour underneath is definitely SCC15 green, which makes sense.

I've also compared the desert colour to SCC15 (definitely not a faded version of this), light mud (similar, but it's much lighter) and wartime light stone (definitely not).

[Lauren Child]

A bit of moisture makes the colours a lot easier to see. Here the lower colour is definitely SCC15, and an overall comparison.

The lower colours seem very patchy, so I'm guessing she has been sanded down in the past.