Softskins - Interior Colours

[timbo33]

Hi All,

 

I haven't been on here for a while and my normal genre is 1/48 Aircraft but I've got roped in to making some 1/35 scale trucks for the Mulberry Harbour SIG for Telford so I'm a bit out of my comfort zone!

 

First on my list is the IBG Models Bedford QLR Radio Truck, which I'm going to do in the 'Mickey Mouse' Scheme, which I gather is SCC.14 Black over SCC.15 Olive Drab. The Kit colour callouts are for Vallejo paints, which I don't use and the Interior Colour is rather unhelpfully quoted as 'Light Green'. Is this 'Light Green G5' or a different colour altogether? If different, anyone able to push me in the right direction using Mr Hobby, MRP or Hataka Orange Line?

 

Next up are a couple of US Trucks: an ICM Studebaker 6x6 and the Tamiya 2 1/2 Ton 6x6. These are presumably overall Olve Drab - is FS34087 the right colour? I know that the paints used by the US Army weren't the same as those used by the USAAC...?

 

Cheers!

[Kingsman]

The Light Green interior colour used on British vehicles is much more like RAF Sky - a colour you should be familiar with.  I believe the cab interiors would have been the same as the outside base colour, so SCC15 for your QLR.  Some older softskins deployed to France after D Day were still in the old scheme of SCC14 over SCC2 Brown, if you want a bit of variety.

 

As for the US vehicles, Federal Standards did not exist in WW2 so matching to an FS colour is something of a lottery.  Yes, US Ordnance OD was different to USAAF aircraft OD.  There are many, many brands of OD available.  By D Day the earlier brownish shade of OD had pretty much disappeared and the shade in use was a greyish green.  There was so much of it made that some variaton is inevitable.  Many people like the Tamiya OD: I try to avoid modelling anything in plain OD so I can't give a personal recommendation.

 

The Studebaker US6 and its REO clone were not used by the US Army.  Studebakers went for Lend-Lease, almost all to the Soviet Union: Stailn personally thanked Studebaker's workers.  USMC had some REO but were not present on D Day.  I do not believe the UK received any Studebaker or REO rigid trucks.  I believe we may have received some 4x4 semi-tractors if you fancy a major conversion: not sure where you'd get a semi-trailer from.

 

If you are committed to using the Studebaker then you could pretend it's a REO (grille badge and absence of front winch on the REO were the only differences ) in US Navy service.  They had a lot.  Many Navy vehicles were painted grey but those like the REO obtained from Ordnance sources would have been factory-finished in OD.  A Navy Construction Battalion (114th?) were involved on D Day and constructing US Mulberry A, then moving to re-open the French ports.  Naval Combat Demolition Units were also present on D Day on US beaches but would not have had trucks.  Initially, it would be unlikely to find US vehicles at Mulberry B or British vehicles at Mulberry A as each served their own national needs.  But following the destruction of Mulberry A everything had to come through Mulberry B.

[Graham Boak]

The light green colour used inside some British vehicles was Eau-de-Nil, which is somewhat greener than Sky.

 

PS.  Some of the paints labelled as Sky are also greener that Sky.  Eau-de-Nil is however available in the Colourcoats range.  As are the other colours mentioned.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Graham Boak

[timbo33]

Thanks chaps - really useful information - I’ll have to look up Eau-de-Nil paints but, as Graham suggests I might get away with some RAF Sky with a bit of extra Green in...? This only for the inside of the Radio cabin and it’s going to be largely closed up as if in transit. Also need to get my thinking cap on about the Studebaker Truck! A US Navy version would be unusual - as to mixing (US/UK), I’m not sure what Pete Bowyer’s display criteria are for the nationals - whether it will be a complete diorama or just a variety of models that could have been on a Mulberry on display.....?

[Don149]

HiTimbo , I`ve ridden in quite a few QLs , the cab interiors looked , to me like faded cockpit green .

The ones in the Middle East ,though , were allover desert scheme , including the cab interiors .

                                                                                                                                                      Don .

[Mike Starmer]

Eau-de-Nil is a postwar colour for cab  interiors.  Restorers keep making this mistake time and again.  Wartime cab interiors were the same as the external colour.  Closed office bodies were gloss Pale Cream No.52 on ceiling and  upper side walls.  The lower side walls up to about 3 or 4 feet were covered with brown or dull green scuff-proof  linoleum material whilst the floors had the same type of material often with an anti-skid surface.