Question on shell color of Late Panther

According to the Osprey reference on the Panther, all late 7.5cm rounds should be steel cased. Paint them steel.

QUOTE: Originally posted by crockett According to the Osprey reference on the Panther, all late 7.5cm rounds should be steel cased. Paint them steel.

That's not exactly right.. The shells were steel cased, but were also brass plated. So the "brass" effect would be more accurate....

There are several variations of late war shell casings. The steel casings were Parkerized to prevent them from rusting and to keep them from sticking to the insides of the breech after firing. The common color of this Parkerization, (at least in the images I have), is a light yellow-green, sort of a "Key-Lime Pie" color, for lack of a better term, although there were apparently other colors as well. There were also brass and copper plated rounds, which were made of steel, but covered with a thin electroplated coating of brass or copper.

HMM,

So the late war shortage of brass meant they just plated the casings?, the photo I'm looking at in the reference (Osprey) sure look like steel casings. It may be the black and white effect from these old pics. Thanks for the correction.

Steve

Crockett, I have "steel" colored casings in artwork too, but no actual color photos. It is my understanding that bare steel casings would stick to the bore due to the expansion of the casing during firing, hence the need for the coatings. Does someone have an actual photo of a bare steel casing or have first-hand knowledge of this? I am suspecting that the bare steel colored casings I am seeing in the artwork may be a misunderstanding of the term "steel casing" by the artists, but I may be wrong. I am not sure about this.

they may have used a method to use a synthetic nonstick subtance in the manufacture of the shells.

well here is a pic of my painted shells , its so hard to tell from black and white photos .

Hey spector did you know you can see the tanker flying out of the tank in your pic?

When you consider how many book illustrators depict large-bore German ammo as having steel color casings, that it must be a correct color too. There must be some other kind of transparent treatment applied to the steel that left it natural colored. I just don't know. But I do have references for light green Parkerized steel, black Parkerized steel, ordinary brass, brass and copper plated steel. I thought I saw a color photo once of a Tiger with what might be a steel round sitting upright on the turret, but I don't remember where. Sorry, there is just too much minutiae to keep track of it all.

as I said before on a previous post in this thread they may have used a non stick lubricant to keep the shells from sticking maybe some enterprising crewman used gun oil on the shell. it isnt slippery but it kept things in the guns from sticking together in fact when cleaning your personal firearms the manufactures suggest applying oil to the breach of the barrel so that your ammunition doesnt stick to it and jam the weapon.