M10 Achiles question

Meee wrote: : Would a WW2 UK M10 Achiles have been overpainted in Bronze green or : left in USA olive drab colour? : I'd say it most likely depends on the date. Were the vehilce converted prior to D-day, it was probably re-painted. Post D-day, I'd say the odds were good it wasn't re-painted, since there was a demand for the vehicle.

Bruce

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Bruce

urden =A0 =A0Austin, TX.

Weren't the M10 Achilles re-gunned in the UK with the 17 pdr? They may have taken the time to repaint them since the gun would have been new.

Bronze Green was not used during the war years due to shortages of chromic oxide pigment. US equipment was left in the original US No. 9 Olive Drab unless repainting was necessary for camouflage reasons (as in Italy), or because parts had been modified (as with vehicles upgunned with the 17 Pounder gun). Standard British paint for Northwest Europe from the spring of 1944 on was SCC-15 Olive Drab, a slightly greener shade than used by the US (it's available as an enamel from White Ensign). Paint was supposed to be conserved, so it is possible that only parts actually scarred by modification would be repainted, with the remainder of the tank being in US No. 9, but this would be hard to determine from a black and white photo. Most model builders prefer to assume that the British builders wouldn't issue a "tatty" looking vehicle spot-painted in two mismatched Olive Drab colors, so they overpaint entirely in SCC-15, and indeed they may be right. Use of Deep Bronze Green was resumed after the war. Gerald Owens