M4 Medium Tank "Cookie" will return to Overloon war museum

[James P]

Originally Posted by Jakko Westerbeke

Reading that, what I find odd is that the Overloon museum had the correct type of Sherman that they weren’t using, but sold the wrong type, that they were, to be a memorial in Italy.

But I guess this comes back to a common complaint about museums: a lot of them don’t seem to actually know much about what they have. (See, for example, comments by Mike Starmer on another forum about the repainting of British tanks at Bovington, using some random military-looking green paint from a DIY store.)

Hey, give them some credit for at least attempting to paint them in a "military looking" paint, see the paint shot all over the tanks at the CFB Borden museum to truly see how low the bar can be set.

[Ed Storey]

For years I have been curious if other museums are as cavalier with their artifacts as military museums are? We know art museums don't display their collections outside for the birds to nest in and the kids to climb on but do the other museums loan and exchange their material like a kid with trading cards?

[Alex van de Wetering]

Reading that, what I find odd is that the Overloon museum had the correct type of Sherman that they weren’t using, but sold the wrong type, that they were, to be a memorial in Italy.

At the time they sold Cookie, there was an ongoing conflict between the Overloon museum and the people from the Marshall museum collection. The M4A4 was in the Marshall museum collection, so if Overloon would have sold that one to Italy, than I am sure the conflict would only have gotten worse!

Thankfully the conflict has since been resolved and as far as I know Overloon now owns all vehicles previously in the Marshall collection.....which is the reason we have seen lot's of post-war vehicles being sold, in favour of the WW2 vehicles.

Alex

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by James P

Hey, give them some credit for at least attempting to paint them in a "military looking" paint

His actual complaint was not so much that they took a military green from a DIY store, but that they have one of the world’s best collections of original British manuals, instructions and more for this kind of work, and didn’t bother looking at them to see which colours the vehicles should have.

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

At the time they sold Cookie, there was an ongoing conflict between the Overloon museum and the people from the Marshall museum collection. The M4A4 was in the Marshall museum collection, so if Overloon would have sold that one to Italy, than I am sure the conflict would only have gotten worse!

Ah, that makes sense, yes. Better sell the one you own than one you don’t.

[James P]

Originally Posted by Jakko Westerbeke

His actual complaint was not so much that they took a military green from a DIY store, but that they have one of the world’s best collections of original British manuals, instructions and more for this kind of work, and didn’t bother looking at them to see which colours the vehicles should have.


Ah, that makes sense, yes. Better sell the one you own than one you don’t.

I see where you are going with this and can agree. Colours of paint can and does set folks hair on fire and as my restoration mentor David Crompton says "You put as much effort into making (paint?) something wrong as making it right". To that I add "there never seems to be enough time to do something right the first time..........but always time to do it right on the second go". Original reference material to work from are books on colours such as Real colors of WWII Armor https://ak-interactive.com/product/r...dated-version/ ) are a big leap at getting it right, the first time. That said the Borden museum vehicles look a hellish pea green and look as wrong as two boys kissing in my books.