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Armor/AFV: Allied - WWII
Armor and ground forces of the Allied forces during World War II.
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M4 Sherman interior colros
Crewchief
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Joined: July 01, 2009
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Posted: Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 09:56 AM UTC
Hey Gang

I am somewhat confused by the interior colors on M4 Shermans. I have seen some models that the interior was painted in white and also have seen them painted in pale green.

At Gammon parade field in Ft Leonard Wood Mo., there is an old M4 setting, I craweld inside it one day to look around, I remember it was painted the pale green in the interior.

Were differnt productions of the M-4 painted different interior colors? Maybe they were painted different colors during battle repair?.

Does anyone know?

Chuck
toadman1
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Posted: Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 10:06 AM UTC
The interiors of Shermans are white with selected components in olive drab. See my pics of a Sherman Jumbo restoration for more details.

Chris "toadman" Hughes
Toadman's Tank Pictures
GeraldOwens
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Posted: Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 10:47 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hey Gang

I am somewhat confused by the interior colors on M4 Shermans. I have seen some models that the interior was painted in white and also have seen them painted in pale green.

At Gammon parade field in Ft Leonard Wood Mo., there is an old M4 setting, I craweld inside it one day to look around, I remember it was painted the pale green in the interior.

Were differnt productions of the M-4 painted different interior colors? Maybe they were painted different colors during battle repair?.

Does anyone know?

Chuck

US tanks are painted semigloss white inside, except for hatch interiors that will be visible when open. Sea Foam Green is used inside armored personnel carriers from the mid 1960's onward.
jowady
Joined: June 12, 2006
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Posted: Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 12:53 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Hey Gang



At Gammon parade field in Ft Leonard Wood Mo., there is an old M4 setting, I craweld inside it one day to look around, I remember it was painted the pale green in the interior.




Chuck


Probably a case of a bad restoration. Tank interiors in WW2 were white, as has been noted with the exception of certain parts. When tanks were repaired they were brought, as closely as possible, back to original standard. See Belmont Cooper's book for the why.

John
ericadeane
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Posted: Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 04:42 PM UTC
They were white so that any interior light would be magnified. UK tanks used silver for a while, Ger tanks used a bright ivory color. Belton Cooper talks about repainting repaired tanks with a fresh coat to hide/mask traces of the previous KO which may have included human organic remnants.

But the bright color was for increased lighting. For a nicely restored M4A1 76W go here:
http://www.modellismopiu.net/m+gallerie/main.php?g2_itemId=24965
HunterO4
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Posted: Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 10:19 AM UTC
What about the hatches?
Rubicon
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Posted: Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 10:37 AM UTC
Unfaded olive drab, the same color as the outside of the tank for the inside of the hatches, I think.
GarethM
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Posted: Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 01:03 PM UTC
According to at least one Soviet tanker, the Sherman's also had beautifully upholstered seats.


Quoted Text

They were beautiful! For us then this was something. As they say now, “Euro-repair”! This was some kind of European picture! In the first place, it was painted beautifully. Secondly, the seats were comfortable, covered with some kind of remarkable special artificial leather. If a tank was knocked out or damaged, then if it was left unguarded literally for just several minutes the infantry would strip out all this upholstery. It made excellent boots! Simply beautiful!
ericadeane
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Posted: Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 07:40 PM UTC
Dale Darr: Only a few pre war tanks and other production oddballs had white hatch inside faces. A clear example are Fisher's M4A2 Sherman production prototypes. I cite this odd example because it becomes 100% clear that once the tanks started being accepted by Govt inspectors, the white was no longer acceptable.

http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/manufacturer/m4a2fisher/m4a2fisher_variants.html

DO NOT mimic other modelers or museums or vehicle restorers. Historically, they were 99% olive drab.
 _GOTOTOP