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Army 1944 dated 3" M62A1

917601

Well-Known Member
I feel I got lucky to purchase this 3" 1944 M62 in a brass case. Posting for interest, and general comments. It appears to be in original paint, the brass case is heavily laquered. I already have one, however it is in a laquered steel case and the M62 is not marked on the driving band, but on the butt unseen when assembled. Comments,clean up and keep as is, or repaint? I can remove the slight surface rust from the body, and retain about 50 percent original color, but the cap is aluminum and all the paint is gone. Thoughts please, help me decide.
 

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Well, this is just my opinion, but I'd clean it all off and re-paint....that's a nice projectile, and IMHO will look even better in original trim, even if its a repaint...
 
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The ayes have it, repaint it is. I found an old post here detailing the lettering, I will post progress. I have the FS Standard yellow paint, (FS 33538), first a strong citric acid wash, then onto paint.....
 
Alittle about the green color. As I had a nice patch of original green, it brightened up alittle after the citric wash which takes off oxidation. I tested four types of green.Two were Fed Standard, two modeling " OD", vehicle Standard I suspect, the two OD's are far off. The FS 34087 OD is to " brown". I found the FS 595-34079 ( advertised as dark green) is an almost perfect match to the existing original color. I say " almost" as in bright sunlight it is a barely noticeable difference-under natural light a perfect match. Primer, brown or white, will change the color some. See pics...added, the "FS 34079, Dark Green,Model Master, No. 1910" I found at hobby lobby.
 

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Painted with FS 34079. Next step, I took a white Scotch Brite pad and " polished" , rubbed, for awhile. Did that at about eight hours ( enamel takes a full day to cure) paint is still alittle soft, purpose, to blend in and give the paint job a hot painted deep spray finish ( like the factory), it removes very little the " high spots" inducing a " not freshly painted appearance". It also makes it look like a laquer based finish, not a heavy enamel paint finish. Pics are hard to capture the effect...see pics. When done " fake rubber stamping", I may go even harder to induce transit and storage wear. The color is now very, very close to a 1945 dated M48 75mm RR cartridge I have. Stood side by side, in room light, they look identical.I used a brown primer. The first picture is after rubbing for about half an hour, the others untouched spray job, see the difference?
 

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Wow, looking awesome, can't wait to see the finished product, anxious to see how you do the markings....never heard the scotch brite thing before....
 
Wow, looking awesome, can't wait to see the finished product, anxious to see how you do the markings....never heard the scotch brite thing before....
Okay, my result....maybe not for everyone, however it looks convincing enough to be what I call an "older reinked and repaint".I Put the " fake inking" on in only about three hours( yeah, I know). I took the 1/2 lettering, measured about 1/4" line spacing, from the background sheet, not the letter itself. ( Headline self stick letters brand). Applied it center line centered, then took the FS yellow color and rolled and dabbed it on, ( I thinned it alittle)...set in sun for an hour then peeled off the self stick " outline" pieces. After drying 3-4 hours, I took my home made rust, ( take steel wool add vinegar and water, set for a month, it turns to fine rust) and put the powdered rust on the Red Scothbrite ( alittle more rougher than the white) and rubbed away. What that does is remove the paint look to a thinner inked on look, and takes the high paint spots to flush, and importantly gives it " age" discoloration, it actually stains the soft paint. I have a few original inked ones, this is very close, not perfect but it does not look painted, but inked. Lots of work, but a shell that was in such a good condition ( no pitting, good markings) deserved the time. See pics.
 

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The complete piece. The casing is laquered, I will keep it as is as the laquer ( or varnish?) is in great condition, good patina under that finish. Good coloring, looks old and inked, wish I had a higher resolution camera, this IPad does not do justice....when the paint fully hardens, I will scothbright it again to give it transit " wear".
 

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Damn, that came out outstanding! I really like your technique of using the reverse part of the stick on letters...I will have to look up that brand, as you really can't do that with the ones I use...

I do the base paint with the letter color, put on the letters, and final paint over, then peel the letters...I always have issues with the ridges, never thought of scotch brite-ing them.

Thanks for the awesome thread an ideas!
 
Damn, that came out outstanding! I really like your technique of using the reverse part of the stick on letters...I will have to look up that brand, as you really can't do that with the ones I use...

I do the base paint with the letter color, put on the letters, and final paint over, then peel the letters...I always have issues with the ridges, never thought of scotch brite-ing them.

Thanks for the awesome thread an ideas!
I did one like that, as you said the letter edges had high ridges, when I tried to get them down the yellow base paint came through....I repainted it and left it with out lettering. This method takes some time, but has very little ridge and can be Scothbrighted down also giving it the ink look. Be careful to firmly mash the sticky letter " templates" edges, when rolling it go only once or twice, remember inking is very light compared to paint. I would probably not do this again as I have four hours alone in applying the lettering.
 
A few examples of real inking....it appears there is no "perfect" inking, the sloppier the better, the only way you can go wrong is using the wrong color. Members, please add some pics of your inked pieces, Thank you.
 

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