Did the crews wash all the gunk and dirt off a tank before they applied wash or did they just paint right over dirt and all?

I have a Sherman I want to wash and at this stage it is completely factory fresh OD. Should I weather it up then wash or wah then weather? Perhaps both weather before and after wash?

I'd go with both.

Mind you, I'm no expert, IIRC Tanks were white washed in the field. often applied with whatever was on hand. Brushes, Mops, whatever..

So the tank would only be as clean as the crew had time for.

Mud and grime would be big factors too... before and after.

Hi Alan,
Not really sure about the whitewash, but I've see a picture where a Sherman was getting a coat of black over the green as camouflage and it was going on over dirt and all.
I'd think the troops wouldn't have time to do much cleaning before applying the whitewash, unless maybe they were at a service depot.
I did a whitewash and went over the O.D. without weathering first and just used a little paint and some pastel chalks to give it a weathered look. Not able to post any pictures, but was quite happy with the results.
Regards,
Joe

I also want to now that I just think they applied it when the vehicle was still dirty (maybe they cleaned it a little)
then they applied the whitewash and then the tank is used in the field and it is dirty again.
I Think?

Greetz Rob!

The crew removed most of the dirt, but they were not cleaned up the whole tank.
Also the didn't remove dust etc, the washed the white just over the tank, without cleaned up the whole tank.
So they removed the most of dirt because the paint wouldn't stick.

Greetz Hilbert

they also applied it with rags it could range from paint through to limescale(it would start to eat into the paint pretty quickly) they also used anthing to hand such as fuel/water to mix the whitewash up I'd bet that large clumps of dirt were removed but everthing else was painted over after all your life depened on it and your not making it ready for a parade