Info needed: correct colours for WWII Aust vehicles

[Lang]

Here are the full minutes of the meeting Mikes document precis.

It is quite clear that in late 1942 the paint quality situation in Australia was causing extreme agitation. The users were complaining, as mentioned many times throughout this meeting.

Just because the government puts out a specification, despite the belief of many, it will not guarantee either uniform manufacture or even "fit for purpose".

The manufacturers stated that no matter how rigid the formula control was at each factory the paint would never be identical under full scientific analysis because of manufacturing differences.

The whole meeting was convened because of poor quality problems. The manufacturers stated they were getting formulas from the contracts board for X quantity of paint and making to those formulas but had absolutely no idea whether the paint was being applied to "buildings or silk". They felt some of the failures were due to lack of consultation with the manufacturers and a one size fits all belief from the contracts board.

Lots more very interesting reading.

Bottom line is the camouflage paint being supplied at that time was not consistent and poor enough to cause numerous complaints and an industry wide meeting to try to fix it.

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/NAAM...=3367640&T=PDF

Lang

[Mike K]

I think the paint quality would have varied from brand to brand, and as the war progressed resources were stretched. Some of it was poor quality and other brands may have been more acceptable . You would think the factory applied vehicle paint would have been a reasonable quality and it would have been sourced from the pre-war paint contactors eg DLX KHAKI as used by GMH early on.

This pic shows a interesting scheme ! Can anybody make a guess at the colours ? The door script I think is: Presented by THE EMPLOYEES OF Treadways Four Stores . Treadways was a chain store in Melbourne , selling groceries I think.

[Lang]

Mike

The factory paint was put on after proper preparation - clean surface, primer, undercoat and top coat, maybe several coats.

Any subsequent repaint risked a not perfectly clean surface (most respray photos show outside operations) but more importantly they were just top coat on top coat. This is guaranteed to fail as anyone who has ever bought a resprayed car from a dodgy operator will tell you - even if they used $100 a litre paint given to them by the Rolls Royce dealer.

Neither yours nor Keith's body panel photos are proof of quality or long life. Apart from unknown storage conditions and climate, your vehicle paint was hermetically sealed by a coat of grey when it was almost new, Keith's also appears to be over painted with a grey, jet blasted? off in the right shot. The upside is, because they were sealed they are probably a good indication of colour.

Lang

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

This pic shows a interesting scheme ! Can anybody make a guess at the colours ?

Yes Mike it's Set No.4 but they've used the Lorry chart instead of the Van chart, presumably because the Van depicted is exceedingly short!

Set No.4 was quite widely used in early '42 until Light Stone proved to be too conspicuous in Australian landscapes. This became more obvious when summer ended and the countryside greened up.

Mech Circ 301 Set No.4.jpg

Mech Circ 301 colour sets.jpg