Just about to begin my new project, the M26 Pershing 1/35 from Tamiya. Question, did the US military ever paint them any other color other then that standard US military green? I’m gonna be using it for a diorama and I was rather hoping for something more interesting then just plain old military green.
Any reference cites on the web that you know of? I need some reference material for finishing this sucker off… since as you all know Tamiya models are pretty santized out of the box you really need to work hard to make them look more “in action” [;)]
Any help you all could give me would be more then helpful.
M26 was not done in camo or any other color than OD green. There were many examples in Korean war with tiger paint scheme on the front though.
Here is an example:
There were some in the Korean war painted with tiger faces on the hulls and the turrets for scaring the Chinese and North koreans. This months issue of Fine Scale Modeler has a picture of one someone did.
Thanks for the link… very helpful but does anyone know of a site that details exterior markings and color schemes? This site is mostly interior detailing…
Hmmm … I just though of something… was the Pershing used in WW2? I’m not a history officianatto or anything…
Just looked it up… and just like I thought… yes the Pershing was used in the closing stages of WW2… /whew… cause I wanted to do a WW2 dio… anyhow, so now to the main question about color schemes used in WW2 on the Pershing… any more thoughts?
Pershings also got to Okinawa, but it did not arrive in time to see action. They were sent there to prepare for the invasion of Japan. I think they were on Okinawa like a week before Japan surrendured.
And guess what…The paint was OD Green!
Sorry man. If you want a colorful Pershing your best bet will be one of the Korean ones.
It just so happens that I’ve got something sittin on my desk that you really need, "Osprey M-26/M-46 1943-1953. Everything you need is in it. Got mine at Barnes & Nobles. I’d definitely recommend the reference.
Did any M26 Pershings get the Tiger face treatment in Korea, or were they all M46 Pattons, as pictured above? Some M4A3E8s also got faces, no? How about the Chaffees?
Heavy Arty! NICE M46! (yes, a couple of the few M26’s were also painted that way in Korea, as were M4A3E8’s. Never saw a photo of a Chaffee painted that way). The M26 and M46 were mechanically similar, the M46 had an improved engine (and different exhaust arrangement) as well as a ‘wobble stick’ steering control as on the M47.
Shipment of new M26’s to ETO entailed some water proofing where a slightly glossy or darker area would appear around the mantel, base of the turret and such. Take a look at some reference photos of them in Europe and you’ll see what I mean… This could ad some interest to your paint scheme and give it that ‘brand new for battle’ look.
Camouflage generally did get a lot more interesting when an army had to hide a lot. Notice the Germans used that boring panzer gray during the Blitz Krieg. Like the Soviets, the Americans were more interested in turning out lots of tanks at that time and it was much easier to do a single color.
Just a quick note on this Kit. I enjoyed constructing this model. All the pieces fit together well, and the Kit turned out as one of my best. Tamiya did a great job on this kit. You will enjoy it.
One of the WW2 units to receive the some of the few T26E3 Pershings was the 3rd Armored Div. Frequently they sprayed black camouflage bands on their tanks. Dig around and you may find some evidence of this. They also fielded the much modified T-26E4 Super Pershing. It had the black/OD camouflage.
Wow… Ericadeane, black striping/camo sounds very intriguing… gotta look that up. If any of you find any pictures of these camo’d Pershing’s I’d love to see them… I’ll do my best to look it up on the web but I’m not having much luck with Pershing info
Speaking of Pershings there is a great display at the Patton Musuem of Armor at Fort Knox. We lost Pershings in Korea at the start of the war because we didn’t have the right serpentine belt for the cooling fans. Engines overheated forcing the crews to abandon them and sadly become POWs -many of which never returned. Great example of how one little part will shut down one of these machines.
