How dirty were tanks in service?

Simple mud and dirt builds up quickly in the field.Look at films of tanks churning thru amuddy field,dusty road,or the desert.Or how about how quickly off road vehicles get filthy.I certainly don't drive my vehicle in field conditions,but I do drive unpaved roads and driveways and my truck gets pretty bad at times.So I think a model of a muddy dirty tank is certainly appropriate as a fairly clean one.

However rust,wear and tear might be another story.

AFV's do build up dust and dirt very fast. After a couple of weeks driving around Salisbury Plain, it was almost impossable to see the camo on our Warriors and there would usually be a build up of dried mud around the running gear if there had been any rain.

keep in mind that in WW2 front line vehicles might not have a long service so would not have the long term build up of dir that we had with many years service.

When i build armour, i go for a comprimise, i want a realistic look, but not so much you can't see the scheme or markings.

Thank you for the responses. Perhaps I'm just expressing my frustration with struggled to achieve a realistic light dusting of filth.

Military tactical vehicles are magnets for dirt, grime, dust, mud etc. Depending upon the locale and climate, that can range from simple dust build up to mud caked on like you would not believe. Running gear throws that stuff everywhere. In the field, there is only minimal cleaning going on, just enough to get at access points to conduct the required maintenance. In my personal experience that meant taking a screwdriver to clean up the mud surrounding the grease nipples for attaching the grease gun and pumping in a few squirts of GAA (Grease, Automotive and Artillery) to lube where needed or adjust track tension. Tactical vehicles usually  do not operate on a paved roadway, so they are constantly in the local soil, and in some parts of the world there is so much dirt on the road that when weather conditions are damp or wet, you get muddy on a paved roadway.

This is an example of a more extreme case of how they get muddy, but I’m sure you get the point.

Now the opposite side of the coin is in garrison. Upon return from the field and into the motor pool, vehicles are cleaned inside and out thoroughly for several days. 

    I think the driver needs a wetsuit and a snorkel.

We would spend hours on the wash rack trying to get the mud off of the tanks with high pressure hoses. After a few days of heating and cooling, mud cakes into nooks and crannies and is almost "brick-like", coming off in chunks.

In the desert, what often remains on the tank is a fine talcum powder like coating that never really comes off the tank until it's repainted and covered over.

Even after the wash rack, the trip back to the motor pool rattles loosened mud that you missed and leads to chunks of mud on the concrete. Then you have to sweep up that mess. Once a tank is manufactured or remanufactured, it's never really clean again.

Thank you. More interesting replies. It seems I don't have to worry too much about my models being on the dirty side.

Not really. If they are not being depicted as factory fresh delivered, or on parade, anywhere from lightly dirty to absolutely filthy will work.

We had the XM-706E2 Commando and the M-113 A.P.C. in S'E'A'.  They almost never left the base but still got dirty .  Sometimes from the dust of the perimeter road and then again driving through the grass and dirt around the base sectors.  When turning them in at the armory, we would have to take them to our washrack area and use hoses and street brooms  to get themn clean enough to turn in.

Most of the timethey never really got clean and I think they just painted over the dirt at motor pool.  Lighter vehicles were usually left to get a basic wash and the grey dust on the tires from the perimeter was left alone.  On the one shot you can see where the dirt has gone up almost all the way up the side of the 113.  They were cfrawling out of a drainage ditch when the track broke.  The 706 just sank into the mud during monsoon season.

The birdbath... waited in line you knock off the heavy stuff with tools carried in your vehicle

afterwards the vehicle is driven into the high pressure washers

Well, Stik - that last photo is just wild! Those revetments and those "field of fire limiting sticks" - I couldn't come up with something like this!

Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

Great photos! Thanks for sharing those.

The top photo is mine. I have another photo of the reverse angle of the bottom photo, but it is being held for extortion money by Photobucket. So I googled Ft Polk washrack and found that one of much better quality.

Pawel, the sector of fire stakes on the pressure washers are there to keep 19 year old GIs from doing what they would otherwise do if they were not there. Nail your buddy on the same detai manning the other one. So you had to settle for trying the drench the driver thru leaky hatches...

Pawel

Well, Stik - that last photo is just wild! Those revetments and those "field of fire limiting sticks" - I couldn't come up with something like this!

Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

 

My the time I got in, bird baths were a thing of the past and we just had stationary stations with pressure hoses. The way the Abrams sucked in air for the turbine engine caused the engine to abort when they were driven thru birdbaths.

Some great replies, especially from ikar01

ikar01

Most of the timethey never really got clean and I think they just painted over the dirt at motor pool.

Hmmm .... that raises another thing that often strikes me - When I recall seeing army tools such as spades and shovels, they are painted green. It feels almost like - give a soldier a spray gun/paint brush, and they will paint everything that doesn't move out of the way fast enough. So is it realistic spending ages painting detailed tools, with wood coloured handles etc. Surely they would have just been painted green (or other camouflage colour).

The wood on our tools was painted green, but the metal parts were not.

Also known as Rob

So is it realistic spending ages painting detailed tools, with wood coloured handles etc. Surely they would have just been painted green (or other camouflage colour).

Tools can be in all sorts of colors.  When new, they look like the ones you get at your local hardware store; wooden handles, steel spade, etc.  They can also have colorful plastic handles or fiberglass shafts.  They are ordered through supply or bought by a crewman who loses one.  When the crew prepares for an inspection, they will usually paint the tools with green handles and black metal parts so they all look uniform and clean.

You can see the wooden shaft and red handle on the shovel attache dto the Stryker below.  Wooden shafts on other tools as well.

I like to use colored tools to add a bit of interest to my models.

Also known as Rob

 

Hmmm .... that raises another thing that often strikes me - When I recall seeing army tools such as spades and shovels, they are painted green. It feels almost like - give a soldier a spray gun/paint brush, and they will paint everything that doesn't move out of the way fast enough. So is it realistic spending ages painting detailed tools, with wood coloured handles etc. Surely they would have just been painted green (or other camouflage colour).

 

Tools are routinely are frequently painted when not in the field and time allows. Ours were usually also stenciled with the vehicle bumper numbers to discourage last minute GI requisitions during inspections. We were given cans of OD and Black spray paint from supply and would paint the wood OD and the metal Black, or vice versa, depending upon who was in charge at that time.

With our armor we didn't have any tools that you would normally see on them.  Sometimes a few would be grabbed for use in the squadron, mostly for the people assigned to build and maintain defensive positions like drive in bunkers, smashing glass to put into the drainage ditches and other things they would come up with.  A lot of times motor pool would take them before we received the vehicles into our inventory.  They would remove any fording equipment side skirts and other non useful things from our 113s including the periscope from teh driver's hatch.  They even removed all plugs from all our armored vehicles just to make sure we didn't go in the water.

Also known as Rob

Some great replies, especially from ikar01

 

 

ikar01

Most of the timethey never really got clean and I think they just painted over the dirt at motor pool.

 

 

Hmmm .... that raises another thing that often strikes me - When I recall seeing army tools such as spades and shovels, they are painted green. It feels almost like - give a soldier a spray gun/paint brush, and they will paint everything that doesn't move out of the way fast enough. So is it realistic spending ages painting detailed tools, with wood coloured handles etc. Surely they would have just been painted green (or other camouflage colour).

 

But replacement tools can look like they came from the local Ace Hardware store.

The "pioneer tools" like the shovel, axe, pick axe and handle are painted much more frequently than the vehicles. After every exercise, an inventory is conducted and all bits and pieces are laid out for inspection.

This is to determine if anything was lost or damaged in the field. Tools will be cleaned and painted, often with just regular spray paint you'd buy at Wal-Mart or similar store.

Not too much time is spent painting since any time used to prep for these inspections is time taken away from just goofing off (aka "shamming").

Tools that are strapped onto the outside of the vehicles in the field are rarely stored there in garrison. Too many of them could be stolen by another crew that has lost or damaged their own tools. It is much easier to steal your buddy's stuff than to order one for your vehicle.

So when the vehicles are repainted, the tools are not mounted during the paint job. Tools are stored in a platoon or squad conex that is locked to keep theives out.

I love the soldier psychology this thread is revealling. Thank you all for such insightful responses.