Hi guys. Bit of research issue here. I see that Archer Transfers offers D-Day shipping stencils for Shermans in both yellow and white lettering. My question is, does anyone know which color was used when? Did they start out using one color and then switch to another after a certain date? Or is there some other convoluted reasoning behind which color would have been used when? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks much.

Hi Don,

From all of my research, I see no reason to use anything other than white. I have yet to see a picture of yellow shipping stencils used during the D-Day time period. It’s my own opinion that yellow would have been used later in the war.

Edit: I just went and looked at the photos of the vehicles in your 761st post, and they appear to have yellow shipping Data in what looks to be shipping address data.

Hi John,

Thanks a ton for the feedback. Curious to know how you are able to determine the color of the stencils in the photo. I've been pondering that for some time. Do you have to use PhotoShop or some other software to analyze the color balance of certain areas in a b/w photo? I'm not trying to be sarcastic here. This would be a really good ability to have! Any tips on how to decipher these images?

Another minor issue is that the Archer stencils say they are for practically every version EXCEPT the M4A3 76m. From what I can make out on the screen shot of the Archer stencils, they mainly show the weight, length, width and height of the vehicle. There also are stencils for shipping port information. I can't make out what they stencils on the 761st tanks show but can you tell by their location? I haven't been able to find anything on Army guidelines for the location of specific shipping stencils.

Thanks again for any info you can provide.

Hi Don,

I am by far not an “Expert” on this subject, but just passing on information from what I have found during my research.

First thing I want to clear up, and I’m sorry for not mentioning this earlier. But the Archers “D-Day” shipping stencils are just that. Stencils for vehicles that where prepared for shipment across the channel on landing craft for D-Day. 76mm Sherman’s were too late for this type of stencil.

I don’t think there was a set standard on the D-Day stencils as they can be found in various formats and deferent locations.

The shipping address codes are more likely found on late war vehicles. IE, vehicles that were shipped into captured ports.

I believe the markings are yellow for two reasons.

One, I am comparing them against the white star on the turret, and they don’t look as bright as the star.

Two, The stenciling on your 761st photos look very similar to the markings on Cobra King. And both these tanks would have been shipped about the same time frame.

As you know, Cobra King has undergone restoration, and at the time of paint removal, the paint was removed in an effort to reveal any markings under years of repaints. No discernible markings were found, but they did find traces of different colors of paint in areas where the markings would have been.

Take a look at the picture of Cobra King concerning the markings, This image was created by the restoration team and has been reposted on archers web site.

http://www.archertransfers.com/AR35357pic.html

I hope this helps you out.

John

Ahh....that clears up a lot. So, barking up the wrong tree with that D-Day set it seems. So, I took a look at the "Late War Shipping Address Codes" set instead. After a little digital enhancement, I'm able to see that the sample image includes stencils for a 76mm Sherman going to Italy. I know the 761st tanks were sent to England and they came across the channel just like the initial D-Day troops only much later. Hopefully there is either another sheet of stencils with more options, or those provided can be altered to indicate shipping to England. Only thing is they only appear to be in white...so back to the original issue of color. Or maybe it is not an issue since they are only provided in white?

The other set available is the "Miscellaneous Stenciled Data" sheet which may also work. I can't work out what any of those say other than the "Caution, Right hand drive..." stencils.

As a last option, I suppose I could use pieces from the Cobra King set but it's a bit pricy.

Again, thanks much for clearing some of this up. I will keep digging on this end as well.