Info needed: correct colours for WWII Aust vehicles

[Darrin Wright]

With my restoration I was fortunate to be able to borrow a little colour book, produced in Jan 43, from a fellow VMVC member. I had the light stone colour sample matched at the paint shop and now have 4Lt of light stone paint for my camouflage pattern on my BGC.

The light stone was matched up very close to Champagne Y52.

I did get paint sample cards from the hardware store that were of a similar match to the main colours in the little sample book. They are a guide for later.

Most good automotive paint shops will have a colour sample book (these books have 1000s of shades in them) that can be used to place over the sample colour and this chip has a code. This code will then allow the paint place to make the paint for you.

Records mention paint colours, but I don't know of any old paint formulas, and I doubt that they would translate to modern paint codes/formulas of today. My understanding is that units ordered the paint and mixed it and thinned it down with what they had at hand. This method would produce varying results, but as long as it was within shades of the sample book, I think they would have been happy.