Hi All, new to the site, but this question is not a modelling one! I have been asked by my town to restore an old WWII sign that has been nailed to the wall of our library for over 60yrs. It was apparently for the 3rd Armoured Division HQ that was located near to the town centre. It is a heavy steel plate in the shape of a rectangle, the left side of which is triangular to indicate having to go left.

My question is, what do I paint on to it? I have removed it and am treating it to remove the rust. There is no remaining paint on it. Would it just have the 3AD crest? Was that in operation in 1944 just prior to D-Day? Etc etc... any help very greatly appreciated.

As an aside, I used to be a professional model-maker working in special effects, but am now an aviation artist and still make models (mostly planes) to help me with compositions etc.

All the best,

Dominic Berry
Aviation Artist
www.dominicberry.co.uk

Do you have any pictures or other clues of what the sign said? It could have been pointing to anything: HQ, Dispensary, Ammo Dump, etc. No telling what it said.

Dominic, I think I would ask around and try and find some pictures of the sign or with the sign in the picture. I believe that would give you an idea of what the sign looked like. You might even get lucky and find a color photo of the sign. Nothing like asking for assistance from the citizens of town. Someone might have information that isn't generally known by everyone. I would not be in a big hurry to repaint the sign unless you are sure of what it looked like.
Joe

Check out the 3rd AD website http://www.3ad.com/ and email the staff there. Dan Fong in particlar is very helpful.

Thanks guys. I've been asked to do this by our local museum. They know it pointed to the 3AD HQ, but no-one can remember what it looked like. I have spoken to the guy who told the museum about it, but he can't remember what was on it. I did contact the 3AD website, and got a reply that they would put my request in their newsletter...but so far nothing. There are some wonderful stories of the 'yanks' in our town, one in particular of a large black GI looking for the public toilets. He stopped a little lad of about 10 and asked him where the John was. The boy stared wide-eyed up at him, firstly having never seen a black man before, and secondly because he had no idea who 'john' was!! That little boy is the guy who I spoke about at the beginning!

I was hoping that there might be a decal for the 3AD for sign posts on dioramas or similar...I'll keep trying.
Dom