ardennes offensive

iv been posting like crazy and cant get any response.

yeah, i saw your earlier forum...it's really frustrating! someone out there MUST know!!!!

I've seen some photos of US tanks at Bastogne with sheets drapped over them, but they weren't white-washed that I'm aware of.

Both the Allies and the Germans used whitewash, a mixture of water and hydrated lime. Both sides applied it by any means they had including brushes, mops, and pouring it on with buckets, I even saw a pic of a German crewman applying it with a leafy branch. The pics I have show approx. 50 -75% coverage with brush or mop and nearly 100% with bucket. Whitewash wore off rapidly where the crew mounted and other spots where things rubbed requiring frequent re-application, possibly weekly.
I will get some pics up sometime tonight.

claymore hi!
many thanks for your post; can't wait to see any pics you might have.
the prob i have is whether it was applied to the specific vehicles i'm making, which i guess is kind of hard to know (i mentioned the kits i am thinking of building above)...
it's easy i suppose to add wash to a norm camo scheme, but taking it off once i've applied it i'm not so sure about!
many thanks once again,
nick

Poked through some of my references last night Nick.

Just to confirm on the M4A3 Sherman .... yes some did indeed have whitewash camo applied during the Ardennes Offensive. Some were very well done, covering the turret and upper hull with whitewash, others were rather slap hazard in their application just rolling the whitewash over the O.D. base coat in a random pattern.

And just to confirm Spamicus's info ..... yes some were just draped with white linen sheets.

many thanks for that robert (or do you prefer "shermanfreak"?!),
the m4a3 kit i have has the 75mm gun (the 105mm gun version shows whitewash on the box artwork i believe?); so i guess it's gonna get the wash!!
any ideas regarding the german armour? i think the king tiger would look pretty cool in the wash camo, but it seems a shame to waste that intricate "dot style" camo underneath if it wasn't supposed to be there!
by the way, and i'm sure i'm gonna get a few laughs here, i have a few "techy/i.t" questions...
1. how do you get all those funny icons (smiley faces etc) when replying to a forum, as opposed to just when you create a subject?
2.how do you get a picture to go with your replies all the time? ie if you find a pic on the web,how do you go about getting it on to your profile?
bet that will get a few groans/laughs!
cheers guys...
nick

Hey Nick,
I believe either way for the German Vehicles would be ok. While I was poking through my references there were some German vehicles in several of the shots, these particular vehicles did not have a whitewash on them but that of course doesn't mean that others didn't.

Sherm / Shermanfreak / Freak / Robert / Rob .... I'll answer to any of these ... anything else and you takes your chances

Answers for your techie questions:
1. instead of using the Quick Reply, use the Reply To Topic icon .... you'll find all kinds of little goodies on that screen
2. to post any pics here, the first thing you need is a "host". This is a site on the net that will take your pics and ... well ... host them for you. This could be your own web site if you have one or RonUSMC has a hosting site that many of the modellers here use. You can access his site by checking the first sticky post in General Modelling Discussion and follow his instructions. Once you have established a host, edit your profile and in your signature line add the entire url with the following on either side of the url ****please note remove the spaces
Your line should then look like the following without any spaces.



This is the same method for posting a pic to a regular post.

Hope this helps.

hey sherm,[:0]
many thanks once again!!!

Hey Sherm,

Thanks from me for all that info. I always have used the quick reply myself. The icons, etc. come up if you do an edit after you've posted the quick reply. Now I know better...duhhhh

Now I know how to post a pic, too. (If I can ever find the flippen digital camera!)

Bill

Most welcome .... both of you !!!

Regarding German Armor and whitewash...
(first off welcome to the forums!)
Ok Germans used the lime and or thinned white paint that was not nearly as durable as the factory colors. This was applied to all upward surfaces..due to allie air superiority. Anything below the skirts was usually left alone and the whitewash was almost never "perfect"
I hope this helps!

~H~

My Apologies
I am a couple days late on these. These show american equipment during the ardennes offensive, some with whitewash mopped on some with it poured on.

hey claymore!
great pics..many many thanks!
sorry to be a pain (again!), but could you - or anyone else (sherm freak?) - tell me exactly what the vehicles in the picture are?
if i can find out, then i can make them!!!
take care and thanks again.
nick

M10 Tank Destroyer

The first pic is indeed an M-10, the other three pics are of the M36 with the 90mm gun.

Shermanfreak nailed it (of course).
The M-10 had a 3 inch gun and the m-36 had a 90mm gun both were based on the M4A2 chassis while the M36B1 was based on the late production M4A3 chassis, the M36B2 was diesel (the others were gasoline) but I'm not sure exactly which chassis was used. The most noticable differance was the turret counter weights. There was also the M-10 Achillies which had the British 17 pdr. gun.