Info needed: correct colours for WWII Aust vehicles

[Shane]

Hi all

Have come across this tin of paint any idea what year it was made?

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Cheers Shane

[Mrs Vampire]

No clues on the tin?? Looks like 1940 and is No 3

any chances of a swatch for comparison ?? bit of primed tin or Al Al about 4"x2" couple of dips or brushed coats would be grand

[Tony Wheeler]

Shane, that's LIQUID GOLD you have there! You may have solved our whole standardization problem. That old lead paint is the real McCoy, all we have to do is match it. Can you produce some colour chips for us? No need to make your own, just grab some from any paint shop and reuse them. I use Colorbond chips from the local hardware shop.

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Depending on the batch date it could be pre '42 or post '42 Khaki Green. It's Berger paint, and they were the official supplier when camo was first introduced in Jan '42:

MP 508/1 item 305/733/244 Camouflage Paints. January 1942
Australian Standard Camouflage Colours. Berger Paint Company Camouflage Paint Chips.

A .. .. .. .. White
B .. .. .. .. Light Slate
C .. .. .. .. Slate Grey
D .. .. .. .. Dark Grey
E .. .. .. .. Purple Grey
F .. .. .. .. Grey Green
H .. .. .. .. Light Green
J .. .. .. .. Khaki Green
K .. .. .. .. Foliage Green
L .. .. .. .. Scrub Green
M .. .. .. .. Dark Green
N .. .. .. .. Light Stone
P .. .. .. .. Light Brown
Q .. .. .. .. Darwin Stone
R .. .. .. .. Red
S .. .. .. .. Basalt Red
T .. .. .. .. Dark Earth
U .. .. .. .. Night Black
W .. .. .. .. Light Earth

Khaki Green was one of the colours modified after Sept '42:

Standards Association of Australia. N.S.W. Camouflage Paints Committee. September 1942

11 th. meeting of Committee, it was advised that the standard range of colours was to be amended as follows:-

Khaki Green J To be darker.

Either way Shane it's a very exciting find. Can you mix it properly and post a photo here?

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Tony,

Berger were big manufacturers of paint in Australia (their website claims they supplied the original paint for the Sydney Harbour Bridge).

BALM Pty Ltd, the British Australian Lead Manufacturers Pty Ltd, and manufacturers of DUCO and DULUX brandnames, were a main supplier of camouflage paint to the Aust forces on WW2 (I have copies of correspondence).

My Jan 1943 dated Standards Association colour cards don't have a paint source indicated. Wonder which of the suppliers provided them.

Mike

[Mike K]

I had a can of wartime light stone AKA desert yellow or whatever it was called .

I found it in a shed in Wodonga , the scrap metal yard - Plumbs ? We made a trip to the scrap yards during an early Corowa . The can was rectangular shaped and under the small lid it had a cork seal . Somebody else had some of the same cans as well , I think it was C Anderson .

My can is long lost , I should have kept it

BTW Plumbs had a 44 gallon drum full of N0. 3 mics with the carbon inserts and a yard full of 19 set leads , all mixed up like a huge bundle of metal snakes

[Mike K]

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/F03642/

Ford vans in 3 colour camo RAAF. The Ford vans would probably be for training the navigators in DF , direction finding . The vans would drive around the countryside and the trainees would practice the DF locating with wireless sets in the vans . There are also Bedfords in that line up .

[Tony Wheeler]

Excellent find Mike, we rarely get to see WWII camo in colour. Evidently RAAF Parkes put a lot of effort into vehicle camo. The entire fleet has undergone full repaint in what appears to be a well thought out scheme. Note consistent pattern for each vehicle type, and colours well chosen to match the terrain. Like most such endeavours they've taken some licence with the colour sets approved for use in January '42. The result is a unique 4-colour scheme, which I would hazard a guess at being: Khaki Green J; Grey Green F; Dark Green M; Dark Earth T. Interestingly the Bedfords appear to display the same scheme minus Khaki Green, suggesting some experimentation / refinement. Evidently they found the official schemes unsuitable so they developed their own local scheme. Which is fair enough I reckon, given the accompanying instruction: "The colour combination selected should approximate to the colours of the country in which it is expected the vehicle will operate." On that score we can judge for ourselves in this case, thanks to colour film! I'd say they succeeded admirably, although perhaps less so on the Ford vans, which look rather pale to me.

Of particular interest are the camouflaged ambos, something extremely rarely seen, as this policy was reversed in July '42: "Vehicles carrying the “Geneva” cross will not be camouflaged." I notice even the aircraft tractor was camouflaged, despite retaining yellow for safety visibility, somewhat defeating the purpose I'd suggest! Likewise the old tanker retained some yellow patches, and what a fabulous looking vehicle it is. I reckon we should make more use of early '42 camo schemes on restos, they're an important part of Australian camo history, and what better way to make your vehicle stand out in the parade!

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