M49a2 colours

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Hi all,

I have an inert M49A2 HE 60mm Mortar that has no paint. I've just given it the Evapo-rust treatment and now have to paint it.

I have a photo of one with a brown tail and greyish body with yellow script. I also see on some of the posts here that some of them had yellow bodies. Then in a US manual there is a HE round with body and fins paint olive drab with script in yellow.

What are the corect colours and in what shades on what colour charts (eg. Wattyl)

Many thanks,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[HAZORD]

Is there stamping into the metal body that gives a clue as to what year it was made? 1942 and before is yellow body with black lettering, and after that it is OD body with yellow lettering. The third option you probably don't want to use, is blue body with white lettering for practice spotter.

 

[US-Subs]

Try these.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Many thanks Hazord & US-Subs,

That has been very helpfull. The headstamp on the remains of the igniter cartridge has a 1942 stamp on it. I can make out a 42 on the badly pitted fuze and on the excellent body the year stamp fades and all I can make out id the 194 so I presume that it will take the yellow and brown colours.

Now just a few last questions;

* What font is the stenceling?

* What type of yellow and brown coresponding to what paint manufacturers colour chart.

Both of your help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks & cheers,

BOUGAINVILLE

 

[US-Subs]

I can give you a breakdown on the explosive, internal diagrams of the fuze and hazards of the munition, but font and color charts??? Sorry, I have no idea. I'm sure someone out there does this sort of stuff, but I am one of the ones that doesn't refurbish. Good luck.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

I have had a quick search on googles and my guess is that the colours used would be US Government standard. If so maybe they are;

* yellow 13591 (FED STD 595)
* brown 10075 (FED STD 595)

What do you all think?

Found this great online colour chart at www.myperfectcolor.com which shows colours across the board with a multitude of paint manufactures.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

One more thing.

What is the font sizes for the stenciling?

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[US-Subs]

The colors look pretty close, though I've often noticed that the WWII colors seem to be richer, with more depth. May be a difference in the paint, may be from aging (mine or the paint's).

As mentioned, I don't know the font size, but I can tell you the size of the font. The Large size "T" in TNT measures 9mm tall and 9mm wide. The small size "T" in LOT (bottom row) measures just over 6mm tall and 6mm wide.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Gee thanks for that.

Now all I have to do is to find out if our local paint shop has the formula for those shades.

For stenciling I will print out on the computor then cut them out with a stanley knife.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

The colors look pretty close, though I've often noticed that the WWII colors seem to be richer, with more depth. May be a difference in the paint, may be from aging (mine or the paint's).

As mentioned, I don't know the font size, but I can tell you the size of the font. The Large size "T" in TNT measures 9mm tall and 9mm wide. The small size "T" in LOT (bottom row) measures just over 6mm tall and 6mm wide.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

M49a2 h.e. 60mm mortar 1942

Well at long last here is my restoration job.

The fuze I haven't touched. The body wasn't nearly as bad and was only slightly pitted in places. A bit of bog soon fixed that. The stencils I printed out and cut with a stanley knife. It was really thricky stencelling on a curved taper. I had to measure and then mark out a guide line first before stencelling each letter individualy after positioning correctly.

A very fiddley job but am pleased with the results. I know it not 100% and it looks to bright and shiney and I most probably am out a wee bit in the shade of the colours. I hopefully will get a replacement fuze for it and then maybe have a try at sectionising this one, as that is all this current fuze is good for.

Many thanks to all of you that gave me advice either directly or indirectly.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE