Hi all,I am going to repaint my bike in it’s proper service brown colour, I gave my paint shop the codes bs499,scc2 and he has come up with a Ral8014 code, a darkish earth brown. Does anyone know if that is the correct Ral number?
Thanks Steve
Ian, as far as I've learnt, there was a shortage of Yellow Ochre or something for making Khaki paint and the service colour was changed to Service Brown at some point in 1942.....After old stocks of paint were used up. I guess it's safe to say that by 1943 everything was being sprayed Brown. Ron
Both those bikes look like a 1943 build date to me. But if you email Henk, he'll email you one of his nice dating letters with it's date of despatch. Ron
I see both bikes were made under contract s1048, the contract was from 24/09/42 to 03/11/43 and 15000 bikes were made in that period.
I don’t know if the factory was running 7 days a week but if it was that would be approx 40 bikes a day.
Mine was 488th off the line so would only be about a month after contract started and marks would be just over a month later, so I would put them both in 1942.
I never did get an o level in maths so this could be all wrong and if anyone can throw more light on this great
You need to get information from the ledgers! 24th Sept 42, was the demand date. The start of Despatch of those bikes could have been weeks/months later? My money is still on 1943.:thinking_face: Ron
Glenn British Olive Drab BS298 was instigated before the invasion in 1944. I've heard it was to comply with the US Olive Drab. I've also heard from a fellow forum member who's Normandy veteran Dad, who is still with us, Remembers that most vehicles he saw were Brown. Vehicles would have been painted with the latest service colour during major rebuilds. Ron
Wrt the use of SCC2 Brown the following by Mike Starmer as given on my website: (https://www.wdnorton.nl/Colours.html)
A.C.I. 1160 of 30 MAY 1942 gave more precise details of the new scheme but now specifically called for S.C.C. 2 (brown) to be the basic colour with S.C.C. 1A or S.C.C. 14 (black) as the disruptive colour. Although the new range of camouflage colours had been in use for several months it was only in September 1942 that a formal document, BS.987C: ‘CAMOUFLAGE COLOURS’ with a range of eleven colours was first made generally available to paint and vehicle manufacturers and other interested bodies.
The question really is "when did they run out of KG3"? That could well have been halfway any army vehicle contract in 1942.
Cheers,
Thanks Rob. That confirms my findings. Also the last drums of KG3 could have been mixed in with Service brown to paint a few vehicles in Khaki Brown No 2 1/2! :relaxed: Ron
As a reply to question from Glenn on reversal to Olive,again by Mike Starmer.
A.C.I. 533, 12 APRIL 1944. ‘CAMOUFLAGE. WAR EQUIPMENT, etc.
CHANGE IN BASIC COLOUR.
A new colour, S.C.C.15 Olive Drab was to be adopted as the new basic camouflage colour for all army equipments, in lieu of Standard Camouflage Colour No. 2 (brown), and certain new equipments painted Olive Drab were to be shortly received by units. This new colour had been specially formulated for use in forthcoming operations in Europe. It was intended to be similar in shade and tone to U.S.Army Olive Drab No.9 to avoid the need to repaint lend-lease equipments until such times as this was necessary. This means that any American built motorcycles in British and Commonwealth use initially remained the U.S. colour. The order also stipulated that vehicles will not be repainted simply to comply with the new colour regulation and will continue to be used in the early colours until repainting is due or necessary. This being the case then lots of motorcycles, ‘B’ class and other non-tactical vehicles went to France in their earlier brown colours with dark brown or black disrupter as required.
