Hi guys,
Can anyone tell me if the MERDC camo on the M151 jeeps extended into the footwells and onto the dashboard.
Much appreciated.

From the MERDC images I have seen online from various sources, it would appear to be a yes. Allowing the camouflage pattern to work when the roof was off the M151.

Google of MERDC M151 brings up numerous line drawings that I think are taken from US Army publication.

Not on the ones I served on. The interiors were left as is because the top was usually up. The wheel wells were too hard to reach with the paint brush. Though we could reach into the wheel wells of the deuce and a half.
If the floors were painted the dash often wasn't to avoid masking. I saw some deuces(and 151s) where the interior was still olive drab.

From what I have seen, most had the camo carried over into the interior. Here is a restored one, but it looks consistent w/what I have seen.

#Gareth, I saw the line drawings, but just wondered whether or not the full regulations were adhered to. Plus the actual photos I saw online were of restored vehicles.
I appreciate the response, Thank you.

#Stephen, Thats great, Thank you for replying.

#Gino, thanks for the photo.I just wasn't sure how accurate these were.

The footwells? Not so much, especially if the painting was being done at the unit level and the unit allowed the use of the tarp. A caveat about the painting patterns - when repainting time came around in some units I was in, the painting crew often consisted of the guys who had PO'd their platoon sgt. most recently and guys who were marking time waiting to be chaptered out and needed to be kept gainfully employed; not the highest quality troops = not high quality work. Patterns varied from the book, paint was thinned was MOGAS, and for the most part was done with brushes. Up close most of those paint jobs were horrible, complete with brush marks, drips, etc. Don't recommend trying to enter a model with one of those paint jobs in a contest but you'd get my vote for most accurate if you did.

The answer is kinda-sort of. Depending on where you were at the time. I had 64 gun jeeps (M151A1s) in my Smoke Generator company (the 164th SG, split between Ft. Lewis WA and Ft. Irwin CA) when we got new jeeps (we never called them MUTTs) from the depot, they came in all green, and it was our responsibility to paint them. We tried to follow the MERDC guides, but it wasn't really possible to be exactly perfect in every case. We also thinned paint for spraying with MOGAS-- thinner was hard to get in large quantities. Nobody smoked while painting! Two guys with air guns could shoot paint for each new 1/4 ton in about 20 minutes-- pretty fast for a vehicle repaint! If we had masking tape and "craft" paper available for masking, we'd use it, but we often used axle grease from a #10 can to mask the headlights and markers-- it was fast and readily available. We seldom painted the footwells (on purpose anyway, but sometimes it happened) but the back floor always received a streak of paint. The rear inside fenders, and the dash got a slash of color or two. There was no sense in wasting time or paint footwells. Trans cover would get hit as well. Seat frames would be left in the green for the most part, since we'd remove the seats to paint. We usually received new jeeps as mileage replacements, when they became available. Then there were the cans of touch up paint which we were constantly using to repair dings and scratches. Occasionally someone would run a splash of color from those across a dashboard or seat frame. I was the Comander for 28 months, and we replaced about half our M151s in that time frame. We also had M151s in the 11th ACR, 9th DIVARTY, 593rd SG, and in several other units I was assigned to before 1987. The same went for those units. The 1/4 ton trailer was different-- we always painted the inside of those in every unit I was in.
VR, Russ

John and Russ, thanks for the very informative insights guys.
I appreciate you taking the time to share them.
Very useful information as well.

I rebuild M151s in 1:1 scale.


The pattern usually extends to the floor in the rear, but stops at foot wells.

If done properly, seats are removed, but again, it depends on the motivation level of the private who got stuck doing this.

The dash and interior of the windshield is usually painted too.

As was mentioned, in service, touch ups were done with all sorts of paints and after years of service, they usually looked like crap with a mixture of shades of paint and random tactical markings.

Even when the main color was spray painted over the forest green surface, most of the black and sand accents were done by brush. Nobody wants to clean a spray gun just for the 2% colors unless you’re really gung ho.

Well, we never used a brush-- when I was talking about cans of touch up paint-- I meant a spray can. The MERDC colors all came in conventional spray cans, that were a dark OD green color, with a small metal cap. Paint came in three types of containers, a standard 1 gal. paint can, a standard 5 gal. paint can, and in spray cans. We'd never break open a gal. or 5 gal. can just for touch up, and the spray cans were just a lot easier. In fact, we seldom used the black paint (for the MERDC "branches") from a can-- they were almost always done with a spray can-- even when we were painting an M-60 tank.
VR, Russ

As a 63B truck mechanic from 1972 to 1978 I never saw the interior painted in camo. My M-816 had OD green interior until I painted sand during a repaint. M-151's, M35's, M-800 series, M-715's in all my units had OD interiors except for M-151, had tan.

Trucks are a little different in that they have doors and windows— and deeper wheel wells and interiors— ours were never painted on the inside either.
VR, Russ

Bruce, Jim and Russ.
Excellent information. Thank you kindly.