British Achilles primer color?

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

Hey guys, i need help on my new project the British Achilles, i don’t know what color their
primer was under olive drab? THX

2

There was none. These tanks were produced in the US, and the OD was an enamel baked onto the bare metal.

3

I’m guessing you’re asking this question b/c you want to show some “chipping” right? Reality is US made items were painted extremely well and any “chipping” you should do would be most certainly inaccurate. However, a very clear weathering pattern occurred on US armor: areas of high traffic would be worn clean of dust by hands, feet, bodies – and would show up as darker areas than the dust covered exterior of the rest of the AFV.

4

Thanks for the info, that helps out alot!

5

Remember: study photos of tanks, not photos of models. Three mistakes often made by armor builders:

  1. white hatch interiors

  2. cannon muzzles blackened by soot

  3. magically attached and illogically placed stowage and gear

6

Hi! Just a note on cannon muzzle “soot”. In my own personal experience in the 'Nam, after firing many rounds through the 105 howitzer, The muzzle is most definitely blackened! First off, the paint literally burns to a nice blackened state before eventually peeling off. Also this “soot” has a greasy or oily feel to the touch and will rub off on you much the same way as charcoal would. On the '05 this blackening would extend quite a ways back on the tube depending on how hot the thing got! I also observed this on M-48s that we were with a good deal of the time. Can’t speak for WW ll stuff, as I wasn’t there. In the case of our '05’s, our crew eventually said to heck with it and stopped repainting the muzzle and left it polished steel. Gave it a nice custom touch! That is all!