Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Tony,

Just looked at APAS 0165/1 online. Interesting reading.

Camouflage Green is specified as equivalent to US Federal Standard 595A colour 34088. This is the current Australian Army colour so it will be slightly different to the Khaki Green No.3 that Protec has previously made available.

It is the same colour paint that I have obtained from Wattyl and Croda over the years and now in the process of changing over to a closer late WW2 colour.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Just an aside to my previous post:

While following Gina Vampire's excellent thread on WW2 paint I can really appreciate how hard it is to track paint colour changes of 70+ years ago.

Even in modern times there seems to be little standardization of terms for paint.

Case in point: in the 2005 issued APAS 0006/2, as shown on an old can of paint that I have initially used on my CMP ford, it specifies "Low Gloss" however the manufacturer, Wattyl, calls it "Semi Gloss". That is probably a more accurate description as APAS 0006/1 is "Flat", And APAS 0006/3 is "Full Gloss" so the assumption is APAS 0006/2 is in between.

APAS 0006 refers to the 3 gloss levels but only refers to the colour as US FS 595B 34088 which is the matt chip. FS 14088 would be the gloss chip and 24008 would be the Semi gloss chip.

To further add confusion some manufacturers call low gloss paint flat or matte.

Even the names can be confusing as Camouflage Green is also referred to Olive Drab in the 2009 issued APAS 0165 Which is FS 595B 34008.

Anyway as a mater of interest I have attached a photo for comparison only of a part painted in Wattyl Semi Gloss Olive Drab, (the same colour/different gloss as the Protec aerosol) and a paint chip of the paint I had mixed to a good sample part colour which I hope is a lot closer to the late war KG J thanks to Gina's great thread.

I have bitten the bullet and will be repainting the truck as I go in that colour.

[motto]

If that is a true representation of the colour you are using Jacques it is pretty close to what I am using on my WW2 US vehicles and it looks right to me.
The paint I started with came from the Ordnance Factory Maribyrnong when it closed down and it is a Berger product identified as Transformer Olive Drab. It is quite old and takes some stirring and straining but it works ok though it's a bit slow drying to full hardness.
I also have a quantity of it now that was colour matched more recently and it's very good to use. Being flat it marks fairly easy but that's how it was.
At least it looks authentic, unlike some vehicles you see that have received a coat of paint that would be more suitable for a garden gnome.

David

[Jacques Reed]

Hi David,

Transformer Olive Drab- Now that's another interesting name for a colour. If the can was from the eighties it may have been used to paint kids' toys!

All joking aside, the current Australian Army Olive Drab, US Federal Standards 595B colour 34088, is close numerically to WW2 US Olive Drab which is colour 34087.

I checked my 1984 edition of FS 595a which is a reference book of all colours used by the US government at that time. Surprisingly colour chip 34088 was not listed then.

From FS 595a: "The last three digits indicate the approximate order of increasing (diffuse) reflectance and are assigned non-consecutively to provide numbers between for future use."
Basically as the last three digits of the chips gets higher the colour gets lighter so today's Australian FS 34088 Olive Drab would be lighter (more reflectance) than WW2 US Olive Drab FS 34087.

It doesn't answer any questions about Australian WW2 Khaki Green but it may be of interest to members for the present day comparisons.

Cheers,

[Private_collector]

You guys are making my head spin, and that's without spraying the can and getting a snoz full! Do I understand correctly, that my paint is current usage in ADF?

I think the description of my paint being 'lustreless' is a good term to use. Spray techniques can vary that, but I suspect a few weeks out in the sun will dull to a further degree. In fact, I'm counting on it, as it's what I plan to do (fine weather permitting, naturally!). Vehicle will be garaged nocte. Color looks dramatically different with oil or grease applied (or accidentally spilt, to be honest).

Jacques, I found that seat base we were talking about, but it is completely Foxtrot'd. Only useful for testing efficiency of tetnus injections, I'm afraid. I did get a number of springs off the back though. I have made enquiries with another source, for a seat. Not heard back yet. What sort of timeframe does that fellow need it by? I'll keep my eyes open for one (attached to vehicle/s) in my travels, starting Wednesday. GPS tells me I'm in for 1700km drive from here. Oh boy. I'm afraid my long distance driving stamina has run out years ago. I shall need Jerry Reed (c'mon you remember the song) playing in a loop, the whole way.

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Tony,

That is correct. Your can of Protec Lusterless OD is the current Australian Army colour so it is different to the Protec KG3 that I believe is on file for tinting up. Perfect match for a 80's onwards Land Rover though.

It still beats having to fire up the touch up gun just for a few parts that may never see the light of day. I don't intend to fully repaint my vehicle KG J, just the most obvious visible areas. Haven't got enough years left in my life to do the whole thing. As Gina mentioned quite often vehicles had different paints on different parts due to parts replacement, using up old paint stocks, repainting, etc so a uniform colour on everything is not necessarily correct anyway.

Thanks for that search for the seat base. Don't think he is in a hurry so if you ever come across one in the future he still would be interested.

Have a safe trip down here to Vic. and enjoy the tour of Bandiana Army Museum with your son.

Cheers,

[Private_collector]

After a 1700km road journey which started yesterday morning, I'm back in Bandiana visiting my Son, and hand delivering his car. It handled the drive well, but will need a REALLY good exterior clean before I hand over the keys for the last time, on Saturday. Man, there are some insect corpses on the front! Had the foresight to wax it thoroughly before departing on the trip. Tomorrow will show whether that had any positive effect on the debugging process.
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This evening I picked up Bryce, and spent an all too brief period, shopping in Albury. I think he's taller now than he was when we saw him several months ago. Of course, I'm getting shorter. We will get together again tomorrow night, I hope. There is a slim possibility that he may be restricted to base over the weekend, along with the others in his unit, but I pray this doesn't happen. It's a long way to come to just hand over a car and then head for home again.

Assuming all goes well, Bryce and I will both tour the Bandiana Military Museum on Saturday morning. I will go alone, if need be, but that would hugely diminish the enjoyment. Either way, I WILL BE viewing this museum, FINALLY. Third time is a charm, unless I suddenly develop an acute case of appendicitis, or similarly incapacitating ailment. That would surely bugger up the museum visit because i have only booked for 2 people, and I doubt they would make an exception to accomodate a duo of paramedics.

The trip down was largely uneventful, though it did make me realise how REALLY ugly some of our native vegetation is. About 600km into the voyage, I entered an area which I think I would best describe as 'depressing'. I don't mean any offence to our scrub land, but it looked like it desperately needed a damn good combing. You know, the plant version of getting a marginal haircut, then walking out into a strong wind. Unkempt!
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Contrast that description with the above. What is this crop? At one point I came over a hill and the entire landscape was this color. Breathtaking, and surreal. Only the house yards were green, everything else this wonderful bright color.
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Now THIS is a beautiful landscape, but not nearly as widespread as the previous photo. Of course, my version of beauty is very slightly askew, but who doesn't find 50s and 60s heavy iron appealing, even if it is in captivity.
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Made a slight detour off route, to visit The Dish. What a grand old sight it is too. Spent several hunderd dollars on the mandatory souvenirs, then went outside to get a few shots of the radio telescope itself. Now, I don't like the heat, but the other extreme isn't much more attractive. The wind was howling, and it was cold enough to freeze the nuts of a macadamia tree! The train is in Parkes itself. Quite an interesting town, with a lot to see / visit. Maybe another time.

I would normally post all this on Bryces thread, but I recently asked Hanno to remove it from view. I want to be absolutely positive I don't have anything in that thread which could be used to my Sons detriment, and the only way I be sure is to get rid of the whole thing. Welcome to the 21st century, I guess.