I've heard some say they were painted over in the factory, I've heard others say they were not.

Is there a definitive answer here, or did it depend on the factory?

It depends more on field conditions,has the paint worn off the tools due to use,has the tool been replaced,so even if it was painted originally,now its not.How are you depicting your tank,fresh from the factory,no wear or tear.Or a used tank,if used how long would it have original tools,or how long would the paint last on them.Think of your own well used garden shovel,how long did it stay pristine.

I have seen photos of the tools removed and you could see the shadow of where they were when the vehicle was painted as they were installed when the vehicle was painted. I have also seen photos where the tools were not installed when the vehicle was painted.

Dan, I would recommend that you do a search on the internet of German armor manufacturing for WW2. What you will find are a lot of photos of German tanks in production that already have their base color applied and no external stowage mounted. That is that the tools were mounted after the base color was applied. I have had the privilege of personally knowing many German veterans and they always repeatedly stated that when they were issued a new vehicle the tools would arrive in separate crates from their perspective manufacturers. The wooden portions of the tools were varnished and the metal portions were generally powder coated in Black. War time shortages could cause the powder coating to be also applied clear making the final color flat grey. All German vehicles frequently received field applied paint jobs and sometimes the tools may have been removed and other times the crews simply painted over the tools. I suspect it simply was up to the crew once in the field, depending on how much time they had. I had affiliations with Aberdeen Proving Grounds and Fort Knox in the 70's and 80's and many of the original examples that I examined supported this. That's my two cents worth.