Hi guys,
I wasn't very clear on my post about antennas, often vehicles had a transmitter/reciever and a dedicated reciever ( I can't remember the name) each with it's dedicated antenna. I was referring to a vehicle with two large antennas and one or two additional antennas for the reciever(s). That was usually a dead giveaway that the occupant was a field grade or general officer. The markings I was referring to on tactical vehicles were bright colors often rank insignia or slogans like Engineer Six or Tank Boss or other silly slogans.
Rick Smith

I see...
Another question in that context would be: how common were those paintings and slogans anyway, on command vehicles or others?
I can imagine that people would take pictures of those tanks more often than of plain ones (and on models they make more impressive decals). So the reference pictures we see may not be truly representative. After all, fotographs depicting only vehicles seem to be a rather small fraction.

I think that is dependent on two factors. One, how bored the crew becomes (think of those Korean War tiger painted tanks) and the tolerance of commander of the unit. Personally, I never saw anything wrong with putting names on the gun tubes. We never had the nose art of a B-17, but within reason, some artwork was tolerated.
DJ

Sorry I've been away from modeling a bit, but here is the jist of what the original artical by David Doyle was:

Paint:

From 1944 to 1957, the US Army used Semi Gloss Olive Drab #23070. It was then replaced with Semi Gloss Olive Drab #24087. This was used until the 4 color cammo scheme was introduced in the 1975-76 timeframe. So any US Army truck built in the era of the M715's would have come out of the factory wearing the #24087. The 4 color cammo pattern gave way to the present 3 color cammo pattern, the NATO pattern, in the mid-80's. Many M715s were out of service by then but may have been repainted to the 4 color cammo pattern before being removed from service. Undoubtedly some were in service long enough to possibly have been repainted to the newer 3 color cammo pattern as well leaving all 3 open to use with the Semi Gloss Olive Drab #24087 being original factory stock for the US Army trucks and the 4 color cammo being next in popularity. The US Marine Corps used a different paint on their vehicles. The correct paint for those is #24052 Forrest Green.


General Markings info:

From the Factory, the markings on the vehicles would be few. Things like the Unit Markings, the bumper numbers, would have not been applied until the truck reached the unit it was intended for. So to make a "Correct Factory" look, one would have no such markings. The hood numbers , stars and some other stenciling would be there.

Painted Markings:

From about 1957-1975, most of the markings on the vehicles were painted on using Lusterless White #37875.

Pressure Sensitive Markings:
Begining in 1964, permanent pressure sensitive markings were allowed to be applied. Note all markings should be the same type....either painted or pressure sensitive, but not a mixture except for the stars, which are allowed in either style even if that differs from the style of the rest of the markings. For US Army vehicles the pressure sensitive markings are white vinyl. For the US Marine Corps, yellow vinyl is used. For the US Air Force yellow reflectorized markings were used on the blue trucks but not on olive drab trucks....though I have no notes on what they used on those.

Stars....correctly called the National Symbol:
The National Symbol, the 5 pointed star, is used on all the trucks except those of the US Marine Corps and are to be applied in the largest area of the:

Top of truck, 20 inch size for the hood
Both sides of truck, 14 inch size for the doors
Front of truck, 5 inch size for the front bumper
Rear of truck, 6 inch size for the tailgate

It is never applied to canvas or vinyl tops or covers. It also is not applied to any area where it could be covered up by canvas, windshields when folded, or where any spares or other items might hide it.
As to the orientation of the National Symbol, on horizontal surfaces, one point should point directly forward toward the front of the truck. For WWII vehicles, the star points the other direction, so one does see the National Symbol pointing toward the rear on the older trucks, but it is not correct for the Vietnam era and later vehicles. On vertical surfaces, one point always points straight up to the sky. One may see WWII vehicles with the National Symbol in a circle. This is an invasion marking and is never correct for the M715 family. Note that ambulances, like the M725, would never have the National Symbol.

Hood Numbers:

The numbers found on the hood of military vehicles are divided into 2 parts. The letter/number code is referred to as the Registration Number, or sometimes the USA Number, and the Agency ID, which tells the branch of service, for example US Army. The Registration Number is put on the vehicle at the time it is originally built and it stays with the truck for its entire lifespan. Only in very unusual cases is it ever changed. Around 1964, the specification for the markings of the Registration Number and Agency ID was set at 3 inch figures. Only where space did not allow for the use of the 3 inch size was a smaller size allowable. The military technical bulletin defining proper markings indicates that, for the Agency ID, there should be periods after the U and the S in U.S. Army. Looking carefully at the pictures and illustrations in the same publication shows no periods are shown. Pictures from Vietnam show a mix of some trucks with and some without. It certainly appears that the abscence of periods is more common than the inclusion of them in this area. Placement is on the hood, on the sides at the edges and on the tailgate. On the hood, the Agency ID is on top with the Registration Number being applied 2 inches below. On the tailgate, they are in a line, not one atop the other.

What the numbers and letters in the Registration Number indicate is the subject of many inquiries I receive. Here is the information I have on this subject:

Starting in 1960, anything older does not apply, the hood numbers would look something like this example:

3A 0001

The 3 indicates the vehicles vehicle class. This class runs from 3/4 ton to 1 1/4 ton. Any military vehicles, like M37s or M715s for example, with a load rating between those weight limits would start with this number. The A and the 0001 work together to show which number of medium weight vehicle built that this one is. A 0001 would be the first, A 9999 would be the 9999th one built. The next one, #10,000, built would be B 0001. Once 9999 were built as B's, the marking would change to C 0001 at number 19,999 and so on. 2.5 ton vehicles were a class 4, and 5 ton vehicles were class 5.

In 1968, the military changed the Registration Number system again and now included a year in the Registration Number as well. A sample of this style looks like this:

03A00168

The 03 still refers to the medium weight vehicle class.
The A and the 001 work together just as described for the earlier system, though only accounting for 999 vehicles before changing to the next letter instead of the previous methods 9999 limit. The 68 is the year, 1968, and does not change for any vehicle made that year.

Due to the fact that ALL medium weight vehicles, not just the M715/M724/M725/M726's, are included in these numbers, trying to use the Serial Number stamped on an M7xx to establish the Registration Number for the truck in question, when the original is not known, becomes an impossible task. It is possible to create a period correct looking number but establishing that it is the correct one for a given truck just wont happen.

In the early 70's the system changed again to the system that is still in use today. So our trucks fall into one of the 2 methods above, unlike the WWII trucks and unlike the modern trucks as well.


Unit Markings:

These are the number/letter markings found on the front and rear bumpers of the trucks. The US Marine Corps did not use these markings. For the other branches of the military, these markings were required to be in the largest practical size but not over 4 inches in height. Any symbols used outside the normal letters and numbers were to be as close to the same size as the lettering. Initially these were to be of paint that could be removed with gasoline or removable vinyl letters.

Reading such markings from left to right on a front bumper would tell us a lot about the vehicles assignment, to include:

1. The Major Command it is assigned to
2. The Intermediate Command it is assigned to
3. The Unit or Activity it is assigned to
4. The vehicle number for convoy purposes, aka: Order of March

If the truck in question was actually in Vietnam, it is possible that it could have had artwork on it that was added over there and was unit specific or one of a kind. This would be like nose art on WWII fighters and bombers. I have never seen any on an M715 but that doesnt mean there wasnt any. Anything of this type would need to be researched to find correct pictures of a specific truck with specific markings. Such markings are outside the scope of this posting.

Miscellaneous Markings

There are several other markings one may encounter on military trucks. Common to the M715/M724/M725/M726's are tire pressures, maximum permissible speed and fuel tank expansion. The following are from the military regulations regarding these markings as they apply to our trucks:

Tire Pressure should be marked in 1 inch letters above each wheel. It should also be marked on the dash even though it it often listed on the dash mounted data plate. They are to be marked with the letters TP, location, if needed, and then the pressure, where TP indicates Tire Pressure, example:

TP Front 25
TP Rear 45

Maximum Speed, if not listed on the vehicle operation data plate should be stenciled on the dash in this fashion:

MAX SPEED XX

Where XX indicates the maximum speed.

(Note: Even though the max speed is listed on the vehicle operation data plate, many M715's, including mine, have the MAX SPEED stenciled on the dash....mine lists 60 MPH as the MAX SPEED, I have seen 55 MPH and 45 MPH as well. I am not sure what the data plates on all the trucks reads, if it is the same as the stenciling or not, but I know this number does vary.)

Fuel Tanks that are not readily visible are to be marked as near as possible to the filler neck with 1 inch letters stating the following:

CAUTION DO NOT OVERFILL-ALLOW FOR EXPANSION

It is interesting to note than on vehicles where the tank is easy to see, like a 6X6 with the tank out in the open, the marking is a line placed 2 inches down from the top of the tank and the words:

CAUTION
DO NOT FILL ABOVE THIS LINE

So one could make the assumption that our tanks should not be filled higher than that level as well. This gives an idea what the intent was from the military perspective on "overfilling".


Bridge Weight Classification Markings

The Bridge Weight Placard that attaches to the front of the truck were yellow . I do know that the yellow used is Lusterless Yellow #33538 and the black that is used with the yellow is Gloss Black #17038. Besides being on the grille mounted placard, a 6 inch circle in yellow on the doors with the base weight class on it is appropriate.


I have been building Army trucks on the 1/1 scale lately. I just finished a 53' Dodge M37 to go with my 67' Jeep M715 and 67' Jeep M35a2.



I wish there were more models of these trucks other then the AFV club M35a2.

Dave-- great information.
DJ

DeeJay,
We were proud, within reason, of you being our commander, especially when we were cut back to Brigade... Hell, I was just happy to escape the Armor School and be in the Ol' Slave Brigade. Things were definately more exciting in 2-10 Cav than in 1-10... Force of personality, I guess.

Your humble M60A3 Platoon Leader
John

Thank you Dave for posting that information again!
Those trucks are really beautiful - I doubt I would still be into modeling if I could collect 1/1 vehicles instead .

No problem. That information has helped me greatly in my vehicle restorations and in my modeling. The article was originally in Military Vehicle Magizine in August 2004.