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3Inch M62 A1 Projectile

J

jeff w

Well-Known Member
I have a 3 inch projectile (band says M62A1 1945) that I need to repaint and re-stencil. Hoping someone has one or has seen one...
Should the stencil on the projectile body say "M62" or "M62A1"?
Also wondering if there should be a comma between the "Proj" and the "A.P.C."

I was kind of doubting if they bothered to change the body stencil when they went to the "A1" version since it just pertained to how the ballistic cap was crimped on. But then again they changed the engraving on the band...
 
Jeff,

Your Projo was used in two separate guns and was either empty or explosive loaded for each gun. It was used in the 76mm Super Sherman tank gun as you see in the Movie Kelley's Heros, or the 3 inch antitank gun in the M10 Tank Destroyer.

So, if you want to paint it as explosive loaded, it should be OD Green with yellow lettering. If you want it to be empty, it would be painted black with white lettering. Lettering is all Caps, center justified. I've lined up the lettering on this post twice, and the software keeps making it left justified. If your bullet says M62A1 then letter it as such. They upgraded it for a reason and it would be lettered completely, so they would use up all the old revision stuff first.

TM 9-1901 from 1944 shows lettering both with and without periods after the letters, so either should be right. I would personally leave off the periods.

So In either of the two paint schemes listed above, it could be lettered as follows:
3G
PROJ APC M62A1 or PROJ.A.P.C. M62A1
WITH
TRACER
or lettered

76G
PROJ APC M62A1 or PROJ.A.P.C. M62A1
WITH
TRACER

Good Luck
 
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Why don't you post a photo of it when you get it all painted and lettered so we can see your work?
 
pic

Well here was my first crack at it. I used Tamiya "Olive Drab" and Model Master "Bright Yellow" over a black primer. I think I need to reduce the spacing between lines with a bigger font....

3inch001.jpg
 
It looks great for a first time at bat! Your choice of paint looks great too. It is hard to find a good OD color without getting too much avacado. Your spacing between letters is excellent too!

I usually wire brush the rotating band to shine it up a bit, and then mask over it with masking tape before I paint. I have always used gray primer on colored projos, and black on black projos. There are a couple of military books around titled "Ammunition Renovation" that have lettering sizes and spacing between lines info. They are for the projos for 60s through the 90s though.

I would think for your 3 inch, 1/2 inch letters with 1/4 inch spacing between lines. Also, put your color on a little at a time, so it doesn't get too thick around the letters.

Great work!
 
Great lookin paint.
I used a rubber stamp set,with a yellow ink pad. After looking real close at a couple of original rounds I noticed the letters were a little more stylised. And with the ink and stamp,the letters turned out a little uneven and rougher around the edges.With thin and thicker areas throughout the letter its self.

Great job!
 

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3 Inch Part Deaux with bigger letters - probably going to leave it at that. Thanks for all the help and comments! Would be nice if this site had a gallery of rounds with original stencilings - always nice to have a target to shoot for. But then again it might be a lot more frustrating!

3inch002.jpg
 
It looks much better with the larger letters. What size did you use, 1/2 inch?

I agree about having a reference photo collection of factory paint job rounds. It would be great to have examples to refer to.
 
Jeff, I'm thinking about repainting mine. What Tamiya OD did you use. I see three different shades at the local hobby store
 
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