What part of the tank (and on which side or sides) do I put the D-Day shipping stencils?

From what I have seen, they were usually on the driver's side (right) front.

You mean the tables of data stencilled on the sides? The ones I've seen were on both left & right sides of the upper hull, sorta near the middle wherever there was a big flat space. Not sure if there was any real pattern.

The POM three-colour markings for D-Day are a different matter - these stripes were usually on the front glacis or similar, often on the right (as seen from inside the vehicle). However, variations occurred, so best to check reference pics.

Yes.


They often aren't visible. To wit:

Here's an example on a M5A1 belonging to the 3rd Armored Division in Saint Fromond, Normandy :

Full size

Another example :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/photosnormandie/5970339375/sizes/o/

H.P.

Merci, mon ami! That's very helpful. Someone else said "the bent part near the driver's hatch," but a picture IS worth a thousand words.

You're welcome Bill

Here's another example for the left side :



H.P.

Hi, Bill!

I've seen the Shipping Stencils on the Left or Right sides of the Upper Hulls, usually close to the Glacis Plate on AFVs- Sometimes a vehicle could have them on BOTH sides. They could be White or Yellow, depending on whether one is modelling a specific vehicle, or vehicles in a specific Unit...

ARCHER makes a very nice selection of these...

Thanks, Dennis, you're right, I have them.

And merci, HP, for the additional photo.

Hi, Bill!

Check out HP's photos, specifically the "C-14" and "C 32" Vehicle ID Code against the White Shipping Stencils and Vehicle Serial Numbers- If you compare the tonal qualities of the Vehicle ID Codes "C-14" and "C 32" vs the Shipping Stencils and Serial Numbers, it's easy to see that the latter two are LIGHTER than the "C-14" and "C 32", and leads me to surmise that the Vehicle ID Codes could be painted in Yellow, vs the Serial Number and Shipping Stencil to be painted in White.

AH-HA!!!

I think these photos alone somewhat vindicate my earlier statement that Vehicle Codes were also painted in Yellow, as opposed to some of the guys in your "Dead Man's Corner" post saying that Vehicle Codes were only painted in White...

Note: "CADILLAC" is misspelled in the photo, seen as: "CADALLAC"- OOPS!!!

Note also, that the Serial Number of this particular M5A1 does not have a "-S" at it's end. Some US vehicle serial numbers did, and others didn't. The "-S" only signifies "Suppressed", i.e, that the Ignition System of a particular vehicle has had "spark-suppression" installed, which entailed a "shielded" Ignition Harness and/or Spark Plugs, in order to provide better radio transmissions and reception. These suppressed Ignition Harnesses and Spark Plugs were installed at the factories, and many, certainly not all vehicles that were manufactured prior to this development acquired the suppressed ignition components later on as "field mods". A vehicle so modified wouldn't necessarily have displayed a "-S" at the end of it's Serial Number. Some units and/or crews just didn't bother with applying it. That's why you'll see such a disparity within serial numbers on US WWII vehicles. Seems kind of haphazard, but that's the way things happen during wartime...

PS- I've also seen photos where the Shipping Stencils were painted on a dark-painted panel, (presumably Black), which in turn, was TAPED to the vehicle's side, ostensibly to be removed at some point after vehicle was landed on-shore. I know from the various photos that your M5A1 "12" didn't have Shipping stencils on a panel taped to it's Upper Hull side, but this little tidbit of info could prove useful to you in future, if you ever decided to model a US "post-Normandy Invasion" vehicle, again...

Not to be a wise guy, so please don't take offense, but Drivers of US WWII AFVs and Soft-skinned vehicles sat on the left side, as they would have, (and as they still do), in civilian vehicles. Exceptions in our Tanks are from the M48 onward, where the Driver sits in the center.

US Vehicles, specifically our larger Soft-skins based in the UK, usually had a Stencil(s) displayed on the rear of the vehicle reading:

"CAUTION- LEFT-HAND DRIVE"

When I was in the automobile business, (parts, service and sales, over some 25 years), customers very often confused the left side of their vehicle with the right. This wasn't because they didn't know their left from their right, but because they were looking at their vehicle from "head-on", as opposed to sitting behind the Steering Wheel. And so it is with models, in particular. Of course, there are occasional mistakes in the instructions as to "handed" parts. I AM NOT going to mention names!

I learned VERY QUICKLY to ask my customers before ordering ANY parts which were "handed":

"As you're sitting BEHIND THE WHEEL, which side, (fill in the blank), do you need..?

THAT simple question would avoid a lot of mistakes in ordering the wrong side of Headlamp, Turn-signal Lamp, Body-side Molding, etc. Even still, there would be some mistakes, as SOME customers really DIDN'T know their left from their right, especially if the order was taken over the phone. If their vehicle was on the premises, I would physically go out and check which side said part was located on. Of course SOMETIMES, (very rarely), the part in question was mis-packaged at it's point of origin, in which case, the fault was certainly not on our end...

Thanks, Dennis, for the further information!

You're VERY WELCOME!