Just Bought Dragons Mechanical Bull And Was Wondering On The Color For The USMC.A Marine Vet Told Me They Were NATO woodland Colors.Can Anyone Conform.If Not Would It Be OD Or Marine “Forest” Dark Green
Hello!
From what I remember Forrest Green is the NATO green colour and that should probably be used for Marine mule.
In praxis you can get away with many things here, as the vehicles were weathered or just plain dirty many times, also treated to things like diesel fuel washes - that tended to change their colour too.
Good luck with your mule and have a nice day
Paweł
I think it is more dependant on when you are depicting, and what service. The M274 was used for many years (1956 to early 1980s) and wore a few different colors, including camo schemes.
USMC (Forest) Green
US Army OD Green.
70s MERDC camo.
It was out of service by the time NATO 3-color camo came into use in the mid '80s though.
“Mechnaical Mule” is the more common term in English.
Every possible color can be found now. The Services, the Theater, and the Time Period, will all matter for selecting a scheme. Probably, they were painted in whatever paint the Motor Pool they were attached to had in inventory.
They are neat little vehicles. You can tip the steering wheel forward on it’s shaft, and drive either walking behind or in front of the beast–the gearing works in either Forward or Reverse equally.
Not the best ride, as the “springs” are in the squishy tires. And the two-stroke engines are not exactly quiet to be around (not as noisy as a Gamm Goat, but loud enough). Until the M275A5 they were “pull start” so that area would be clear of gear, but might have the stray bootprint or two.
Now, for diorama purposes, the M-274 is meant to be tipped up on its side
Oh, and you could do this, too:
(Check out those pikle suits.)