Re: [MV] Saracen paint colors?

From: Mike (tankcity@globalnet.co.uk)
Date: Fri May 05 2000 - 02:35:20 PDT


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I agree with Richard that from what I have seen most Brit armour (and a lot
of the softskins) from WW2 up to the Ferret, Saracen, Saladin era was
delivered in what the factory call Deep Bronze Green - that smart shiny dark
Green. Many rear echelon or ceremonial vehicles kept that colour for the
whole of their working life but combat vehicles were sloshed over; either
completely in matt green or in camouflage. I have also seen several examples
that seem to have been delivered new in drab green.

Whereas Deep Bronze Green has the same colour spec to this very day, the
colours and form of camouflage applications have changed through the years.
I have seen more Saracens (several hundred) painted completely in NATO drab
olive green than anything else. This paint is designated on the label
'IRR' - stands for infra red resistant - though God knows if it is. I
believe it's supposed to be a standard colour throughout NATO but experience
shows that there are variations from country to country. If camouflage was
called for, IRR matt black was used on top of the NATO Green to break up the
outline.

All these paints are what is known over here as 'synthetic'. ie they have a
chemical resemblance to what you paint the woodwork of your house with.
They can be applied with a brush or a gun and won't kill you if you don't
wear a mask. They can be thinned with household thinners and they are far
less flammable to store and work with than later cellulose or two pack
types. They are also much less brittle and far more forgiving if you want
to repair scratches or scrapes.

It has always been my personal fetish that the more 'matt' or 'drab' the
paint you use, the less varnish there is in it. So if you intend to store
the vehicle outside, and you want a drab or camouflage finish, apply
undercoat or primer to get a good key, especially if you have gone back to
bare metal. Then get rust protection by applying a good quality high gloss
paint of a different colour to the primer and the top coat so you can see
where you've been and finish off with the drab stuff for the colour effect.

The good news is that if you look on the paint page of our website
www.rrservices.co.uk we supply any colour of paint to order and stock most
of the standard colours for overnight delivery. We can supply any colour in
any one of six finishes from flat drab through matt and semi matt to shiny.
The bad news is that we can only do this in the UK due to shipping problems.
We can only send to the States when we have a container going. At the
moment we are sending containers to Virginia and Detroit.

One final point. You often see 'original army surplus' paint being offered
for sale at low low prices. The old adage - 'you get what you pay for'
applies. Most of this paint is sold because it's 'time expired' ie it's
outside it's shelf life. Paint definitely changes colour and composition in
long term storeage and gets very difficult to put on. You can't beat the
factory fresh product.

Cheers. Mike at RR Services.

----- Original Message -----
From: Jim/Julia
To: Military Vehicles List
Sent: 05 May 2000 06:30
Subject: [MV] Saracen paint colors?
Hi. Does anyone have definitive knowledge of the proper colors for the
Saracen APC? I suspect that there is camo od/black and pure black.
Anyone know for sure? Thanks. Jim



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