Olive drab paint for US 75mm HE shell

[Stuka]

Hi there,

I'm restoring a US 75mm HE shell cutaway and I want to paint it in the original colour eventually.
I've been looking on Google for some olive drab paint, only to find out that a lot of colours between dark green and brown are marketed as olive drab.
Does anyone know a RAL/BS381c/etc colour number really close to the original US olive drab? Then I can call the local paint shop to get it mixed.

Thanks in advance,

Thomas.

 

[Eggburt1969]

Is the modern ammunition colour coding reference chart of any use?

 

[BMG50]

US colours are know as Federal standard colours. A match for most WW2 US munitions in Olive Drab is usually the same as their vehicles in matt also know as forest green.

 

[Taber10]

There is a company (in the US) called RAPCO that produces paint for military vehicle restoration, but their several shades of "OD" match ammo boxes very well, and I think it is close to what I have observed on munitions in the more "modern" era.

 

[reccetrooper]

33070 OD pre-war to circa 1943
34087 OD has a hint of khaki
319 OD is late war from circa 1944 slightly lighter than 33070

This side by side colour comparison from the G503 forum may be helpful.

 

[jeff w]

The original paint on my shells is highly reflective - at least a semi-gloss.
Below is a comparison of original paint (in casing) with a Rapco 23070 semi-gloss repaint. I have not been able to find a better match in a spray can yet. To get the right color you need an airbrush.

 

[Stuka]

Thanks all! I've thought about it and bought some 33070 satin paint.
I'll post some pics when I have finished restoring my 75mm cutaway!

 

[Stuka]

I'll post some pics when I have finished restoring my 75mm cutaway!

It took some time, but last week I finished painting this 75mm cutaway.
So, here are some pictures as promised.
Unfortunately, I don't have any photo's of the shell before puttying and painting, but it was in a rather poor relic-ish state.

 

[jeff w]

Looks really good. Paint is a good match.
You might want to take a paint brush and fill in the stencil gaps as they were always rolled on and thus had no gaps within the letters.