Hello!

Does anyone know if the Ambush pattern was applied to thank wheels? Especially Panthers. I read somewhere that it was mainly a field modification of the older 3-tone camo pattern. Did the crews bother with the tires? Or did they just get so dirty it wouldn't matter anyway?

Thanks for any thoughts!

- Steve

On 19 Aug 44, OKH Wa J Rue (WuG 6) VIII issued orders to all assembly firms that all armored vehicles were to be painted in the three color scheme prior to be shipped to the ordinance depot for issue to the troops.

As it is often said, "never, say never", especially in a war time scenerio. There were directives in place for factory painting, however, paint paste was also issued in the field to units and some of the armor even had their own compressor and paint equipment. Go through the "Panzer Colors" book series and you'll find numerous examples of field applied non-standard patterns.

That said, unless you're building a specific tank whose history has been documented, pretty much anything is possible.

Steve, excuse me while I make a small detour, while still showing some pertinent info.

Joseph - so, you want to tell me what factory this was painted in? I know they could have borrowed the skirts from another tank, but on the other hand they could have added the ambush pattern dots to theirs.



and a color rendition of it:



And gee, looky here. It's got to be the summer or fall of 1944 and we find this quaint scene in the middle of your "retrograde operations:



Not only are they not falling back post haste, but they seem to be painting their tank (complete with camouflaged wheels)... And yes, I know it's not a Panther, but it shows paint work was still done in the field during those times.

Now look, I'm not trying to instigate anything but your statement just plain struck me wrong. There were over 3700 Panthers built between Jan '44 and the end of the war. I'm sure the guys you listed did their homework as best they could, but you'll have a hard time convincing me that some of the tanks with ambush camo weren't done after they left the factory. For that matter, I doubt seriously that all of them that were suppose to get the paint in the factory actually did. Think about it. It's late in the war. Supply lines are getting beat to death by our air force and the factory runs short of paint. You think they're really going to hold the production lines until more comes in?


Given the circumstances of the time period were talking about I'll stand by my statement of "never, say never".

Steve, excuse me while I make a small detour, while still showing some pertinent info.

Joseph - so, you want to tell me what factory this was painted in? I know they could have borrowed the skirts from another tank, but on the other hand they could have added the ambush pattern dots to theirs.



and a color rendition of it:



And gee, looky here. It's got to be the summer or fall of 1944 and we find this quaint scene in the middle of your "retrograde operations:



Not only are they not falling back post haste, but they seem to be painting their tank (complete with camouflaged wheels)... And yes, I know it's not a Panther, but it shows paint work was still done in the field during those times.

Now look, I'm not trying to instigate anything but your statement just plain struck me wrong. There were over 3700 Panthers built between Jan '44 and the end of the war. I'm sure the guys you listed did their homework as best they could, but you'll have a hard time convincing me that some of the tanks with ambush camo weren't done after they left the factory. For that matter, I doubt seriously that all of them that were suppose to get the paint in the factory actually did. Think about it. It's late in the war. Supply lines are getting beat to death by our air force and the factory runs short of paint. You think they're really going to hold the production lines until more comes in?


Given the circumstances of the time period were talking about I'll stand by my statement of "never, say never".

Given the circumstances of the time period were talking about I'll stand by my statement of "never, say never".

However, the guys that wrote the Panzer Colors series probably did the same work, and yet you're saying they're wrong with the Panther info.

With that I'm out of here.