Aussie Matilda interior color

[cantankrs]

Hi All,

Hope no-one minds me adding to this old thread - I figure a thread should never be allowed to die while any life can be given it, or help gleaned from it.

Concensus above is that US armour such as M3 light and medium tanks had white interiors. I would like to pick the right interior colour very shortly for our Grant (to seal what we've red-oxide primed, because it's still located outdoors, not because we've anywhere near finished surgery). I always thought it was gloss from other resto's I've seen but I read another thread here at MLU that I haven't relocated, that said the original interior white (possibly for an AC) was a flat or matte. (Can't recall the difference between flat and matte yet - anyone mention satin? ).

Also fire retardant paint has been mentioned - which makes some sense especially in a petrol radial vehicle.

I've seen an M3 Medium hull in Aust that someone painted silver in the last 10 years which seems incorrect. The few M3's I've seen with original flaking interior paint have 'yellowed' to some extent. Also I've seen that removed fuel tank cover plates, and other such fixtures and fittings reveals Red oxide primer as the white was applied a certain way into assembly. Our Grant was certainly white over red primer in the crew compartment.

So over again to MLU'ers?

All help much appreciated.

Thanks

Alex

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

It's all the same. One other thing that may have been mentioned before (or not) is that the interior paint (UK or USA) was matte and very 'chalk-like'. The purpose was to have it fragment to a powder rather than chunks if the vehicle's hull was penetrated by an anti-tank round. Even a small flake of regular paint at high velocity would become shrapnel. The story goes that this caused grief in Commonwealth armoured formations because the powdery interior paint easlily scuffed off creating both imperfect uniforms and vehicles come inspection time. Having said that, the NOS Canadian parts I've seen are almost semi-gloss but have yellowed a great deal over time.