[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Big D

So you reckon that is light earth on the scout car and not light stone? I must admit my uneducated eye can't tell the difference on these black and white photos. I had been leaning toward light stone for my paint pattern but light earth might be more appropriate.

Actually I should have been less categoric on that point, I've amended the wording accordingly. As you say Darryl it's extremely difficult to pick Light Earth from Light Stone in B&W photos, especially in bright sunlight. Other factors include freshness of paint, distance from camera, and photography itself. For example, the same photo with different exposure and/or processing would lead me to conclude Light Stone.



There needs to be something of known colour in the photo for comparison, and in close proximity to the vehicle. White lettering provides a useful point of reference, but the truth is we can only be 100% certain when both schemes appear in the same photo, as seen below.



Other than photographic evidence we only have circumstantial evidence, principally the date of painting, which loosely followed the official instruction timeline:

Khaki Green / Light Stone 2/1/42 - 28/7/42
Khaki Green / Light Earth 28/7/42 - 14/11/42 (Khaki Green darkened circa September '42)
Dark Green / Light Grey 14/11/42 - 4/3/43
Three tone scheme 4/3/43 - 28/7/44 (yet to be sighted in photographs)

In practice however we need to consider various probabilities. Light Stone was a British colour intended for desert use and was applied in Australia to vehicles bound for the Middle East. As such its subsequent use as a disruptive colour for SWPA seems to have been largely a matter of expedience due to urgency. Presumably it was soon found too light for vegetated terrain and subsequent changes reflect efforts to darken the overall scheme whilst achieving the necessary contrast for disruptive effect. Logically therefore you'd expect Light Stone to be discontinued in production without delay, and certainly this appears to have been the case with CMP production, with vehicles emerging thereafter in Khaki Green only, including gun tractors it would seem. Evidence suggests Light Earth was introduced in production for armoured vehicles only, and where seen on softskins it has been applied in the field.

Based on these considerations the appropriate scheme for a White scout car would revolve around the delivery date. In other words, Light Stone would only be appropriate before July '42 delivery or thereabouts. It's also true that Light Stone was widely overpainted in the field, particularly on tactical vehicles, so it's entirely appropriate to use Light Earth when depicting early vehicles in the field after July '42. The FGT door seen above is an example of Light Stone being found unsuitable.

As you say Darryl the AWM colour set does not include Light Earth. This is one of the inconsistencies I referred to earlier concerning the range of approved colours, owing to constant revision. The caption mentions another set: A note attached to a different set of the same colours states: "First issued December 1941; Amended February 1942 ; Revised January 1943". It's possible this set may contain Light Earth, and a couple of sets exist in private hands as well. Hopefully the FGT door will provide a satisfactory example for matching. We certainly need this colour as it was widely used at the time, particularly on tactical vehicles, and once painted it remained there until camo became obsolete in July '44, and in operational areas until the end of the war.

I'll have a look through my saved images for scout car camo schemes.