Hi everybody,
I have a Sd.Kfz 251/1 ausf.C (AVF 35078) to build, the instructions say that the fire extinguisher that goes in the inner side of the rear door should be painted red, is that true or should it be painted in the same color of the door?
Thanks in advance for any help!
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fire extinguisher color
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ruqui1
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Posted: Thursday, November 04, 2010 - 03:02 AM UTC
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Frenchy
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Posted: Thursday, November 04, 2010 - 04:30 AM UTC
Hi Ruqui
Just check out this thread from ML to make up your mind
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/message/1163250742/external+fire+extingushers
HTH
Frenchy
Just check out this thread from ML to make up your mind
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http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/message/1163250742/external+fire+extingushers
HTH
Frenchy
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ruqui1
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Posted: Thursday, November 04, 2010 - 05:25 AM UTC
Yes, I had read that thread before posting here, but couldn't make any definitive conclusion about the color of the fire extinguishers that are placed INSIDE the vehicle; I even read that red was not a common color for fire extinguishers in Germany at that time, that's why I'm hesitant to paint it in red.
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pdelsoglio
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Posted: Thursday, November 04, 2010 - 07:29 AM UTC
Hi there,
It is my understanding that, when the extinguisher was inside the vehicle, if you paint it flat/matt green or the hull color, you will be doing an accurate painting job.
Cheers,
Pablo
It is my understanding that, when the extinguisher was inside the vehicle, if you paint it flat/matt green or the hull color, you will be doing an accurate painting job.
Cheers,
Pablo
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ruqui1
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Posted: Friday, November 05, 2010 - 12:35 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Hi there,
It is my understanding that, when the extinguisher was inside the vehicle, if you paint it flat/matt green or the hull color, you will be doing an accurate painting job.
Cheers,
Pablo
Yes, I think the same, but unfortunately I don't have any evidence (photo, document, etc) to support this guessing, that's why I'm asking here
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Thanks,
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Jerrers2000
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Posted: Friday, November 05, 2010 - 02:13 AM UTC
I've wondered about this too - and had noted that the fire exstinguisher in the Universal carrier in the Bovington tank museum is brass - much like this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:070707-092045.jpg) don't know if it's original but it sure looks that way. Also when you inspect colour plates of of german armour - especially Panzer Grey ones - a bright red fire extinguisher would stand out like a sore toe - I've never noticed a splash of red on any colour pics I've seen - I think they are a green - probably something like Field Grey
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Hohenstaufen
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Posted: Friday, November 05, 2010 - 06:28 AM UTC
There was a picture somewhere on the 'net some time ago of a group of original German fire extinguishers (tried Wheatcroft collection but couldn't find it there); they were all sorts of colours, black, grey, sand, green, even blue and red as I recall. So it's possible they were colour matched to the vehicle (the group may have included civvy extinguishers). The brass ones Jeremy mentioned I have also seen on British vehicles (especially restored ones), but I suspect these are "bulled" and would normally be green. I always used to paint them red (breaks up the boredom of a camoflauged vehicle don't you think
), but now I paint them body colour. I suspect that even if they came in a contrasting colour like red they would be overpainted for camo reasons.
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18Bravo
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Posted: Friday, November 05, 2010 - 11:40 AM UTC
Sometimes just an empty bracket can be more detailed and visually appealling than having the stowed item. It also conveniently solves your dilemma.
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Jerrers2000
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Posted: Monday, November 08, 2010 - 01:50 AM UTC
Following on from Steve's comment - in the book "Invasion, they're coming" which is about D-Day written from the German perspective one of the excerpts from a German tanker mentions that when they parked up and camoflaged their vehicles in Normandy they used to go over them looking for scratches or anything that that may shine/reflect and touch them up with some base colour - as this sort of stuff was a dead givaway when they we're trying to remain invisible ! So I would agree that you may want to just go over the extinguisher with the base colour, or camoflage colour !
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Jerrers2000
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Posted: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 - 01:44 AM UTC
check out the picture - top right of Rommel inspecting his panzers - it's looking across the fender of a PIV - and the fire extinguisher seems to be the same colour as teh rest of the tank - as it's sepia it's hard to tell for sure - but it certainly doen't seem to be red !
http://www.ww2incolor.com/german-armor/?g2_page=53
trawling through the other pages for other pictures !!!
http://www.ww2incolor.com/german-armor/?g2_page=53
trawling through the other pages for other pictures !!!
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plastickjunkie
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Posted: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 - 02:33 AM UTC
On the outside it makes no sense to have something that sticks out like a red extinguisher. Red may have been used pre-war and even in the early stages. For example, the white crosses on German tanks were subdued during the Polish campaign as they were a big bulls eye for the Polish gunners. Then why bother using dark grey or cammo paint on the outside? The tools were probably over sprayed also to match the tank color. Bare metal would reflect light and give away the tank's position so they too were probably painted. It's hard to tell from the period photographs.
As for the inside extinguisher color, red may have been used too since it may be easier to spot in an emergency. What you may find in a reference photo may or may not be correct, specially true in 'restored' museum vehicles.
As for the inside extinguisher color, red may have been used too since it may be easier to spot in an emergency. What you may find in a reference photo may or may not be correct, specially true in 'restored' museum vehicles.
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ruqui1
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Posted: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 - 05:00 AM UTC
Quoted Text
On the outside it makes no sense to have something that sticks out like a red extinguisher. Red may have been used pre-war and even in the early stages. For example, the white crosses on German tanks were subdued during the Polish campaign as they were a big bulls eye for the Polish gunners. Then why bother using dark grey or cammo paint on the outside? The tools were probably over sprayed also to match the tank color. Bare metal would reflect light and give away the tank's position so they too were probably painted. It's hard to tell from the period photographs.
As for the inside extinguisher color, red may have been used too since it may be easier to spot in an emergency. What you may find in a reference photo may or may not be correct, specially true in 'restored' museum vehicles.
According to this thread (http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/message/1163446633/The+ultimate+pics+on+fire+extinguisher+!!!), the red fire extinguishers don't have foldable handles and were only used in bunkers, so I guess a safe bet is to paint the inner fire extinguisher in Feldgrau, what do you think?
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plastickjunkie
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Posted: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 - 04:11 PM UTC
Again we are guessing as one of the captions on the red extinguisher picture says "I was told". Anything is possible.
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