http://militarymashup.com/search/%2522m-54%2520%2522

H.P.

Freshly sprayed MERDC "Gray Desert" camo. Probably headed to Egypt for Bright Star.


G

In addition to the Ammo vehicles Tom mentioned -
In the late 70’s and early 80’s M54’s were still in use as prime movers for the towed 155 howitzers (M114A1) in the general support Arty battalions of some infantry divisions. I know that’s what we had in 6/37 FA (2ID) in 78/79, and I’m pretty sure they were in the GS Bn of 9ID in 80/83 as well, although I was in a DS Bn (M102) there.

Thanks for sorting out the trucks for me

Cheers,
/E

Yep-- I was in the 9th DIVARTY 81-82, and they towed our "pigs" (M114A1).
VR, Russ

Hi Everyone

I was not expecting such great replies thank you very much . I will help not just me but other model makers .
.
Question ?
see pictures of them painted in three tone nato camouflage scheme , was ether a set pattern or is this just people painting there own trucks in NATO
cam

Thanks all ossie

There's a set pattern.

Over the years since the early 70's the Army has issued multiple documents, including Technical Bulletin TB 43-0147 which was issued in 1975 with instructions in pattern painting. In Germany in 1973 when the MASSTER scheme was introduced, all the vehicles were overall OD, and the publications contained a specific pattern for most types of vehicles, which we then drew onto the vehicles with chalk, numbered them according to the instructions and then painted (usually by hand) each area in the specified color. This ensured that the percentage of each color covering the vehicle was appropriate, and that all vehicles looked fairly similar.

But as pattern painting became the norm, vehicles were spray painted at Depots either as they went in for work or were delivered new.

So once you've decided whether to do MASSTER, MERDC or the 3 Color NATO scheme, there is a specific pattern for each type of vehicle which should be followed.

The original USAREUR MASSTER patterns were actually created in 1966, but the scheme was never actually implemented.

Later, in 1973 when it was reinstated, the original patterns were dusted off and reissued, but interestingly while the patterns remained the same, the COLORS which went in them were changed slightly.

And once again, I'll ask the community if anybody can come up with a copy of USAREUR Regulationn 525-5 from about June or July of 1973 (or either the V Corps or VII Corps supplements), I would LOVE to have a copy.

This is the source document which directed all of USAREUR to implement the first large scale pattern painting of US Army vehicles, and for some reason nobody seems to be able to get their hands on it.

I have the patterns which were included as an Annex (the ones created in 1966) but not the actual Reg which kicked of the program in 1973.

Tom,
Just one slight correction to your excellent tutorial above on camo painting in Europe. When I was in the 11th Cav 77-80, we never used chalk to pattern paint--- the three major colors were sprayed by hand using a paint gun (brown, green, tan) then the MERDC "black" branches were sprayed with spray cans. We repainted twice a year-- once for summer and once for winter, adding either more brown or more green depending on the season. Usually, a Troop unit set up a paint station which was manned by the Troop maintenance section, supplemented by crews-- these guys did the painting for a platoon at a time. Each unit in the Squadron did this, and we could repaint the entire Squadron in a couple of weeks by working this way. I assume the rarity of the regulation you seek is because we never had it "en masse" at the Squadron level. Whatever vehicle was being re-painted, a copy of the printed scheme was pasted on a wall somewhere, usually ripped right from the manual. And it was referred to for the first few vehicles, after that the painting teams generally understood what colors went where. Painting was really never a "formal" affair, and nobody ever really checked to see if the exact scheme was followed, only a generalization. The rarity of the document is probably because most were simply "tossed" when the NATO scheme came out.
VR, Russ

I think the difference might be that in 1973 when I was in the 8th ID, and MASSTER was implemented, all of the vehicles were still in overall solid OD, much the same as they had been for 30 years or so. All of USAREUR was directed to pattern paint and we received copies of the patterns from the Reg. and it basically suggested the chalk method for outlining the patterns, and since we really didn't have access to paint sprayers or air guns we just got told to paint by hand.

I have seen references to the USAREUR Reg in other documents as well as references to a VII Corps Reg with the same number as the USAREUR Reg, a common practice. Since 8th ID was in V Corps, I know we wouldn't have used a VII Corps Reg, so I'm assuming there was a V Corps Reg as well.

I can recall that the drawings we were given to use (and the colors to paint) came from some directive, and oddly I have a whole BUNCH of documentation from 1966 and 1967 which talks about implementing the program, but all of a sudden it just got cancelled. I've surmised that some combination of a new CG in USAREUR, the Arab Israeli War, and the Vietnam War may have contributed to the program being put on the back burner.

But strangely enough the PATTERNS which ultimately got used for MASSTER in 1973 (and you can compare photos of actual vehicles and the patterns to see they match) were actually created in 1966 after some well intentioned staff officer issued instructions to the field to the effect "just take this small square which has this pattern, and enlarge it to cover the vehicle and then fill in the colors ) which obviously created a crap storm of howls from the field of YGTBSM! About a month later a Change 1 was issued which included drawings of about 14 different vehicles from all views with patterns and each area numbered. I would have LOVED to have been a fly on the wall when those discussions happened.

But as I said, after an exchange of letters between USAREUR and the Engineer School on the whole program, it suddenly got cancelled. Only to get resurrected in July of 1973. The only difference was that the four colors originally specified got changed with the result that the "large light area" which had originally be called out as a light green/field drab mixture, wound up getting changed to the sand color you can see in all the old photos.

And it's those implementing Regulations which NOBODY seems to have kept copies of.

Hi Everyone

thank you all for your replies some great information here for anyone building a M54A2. But keep adding
Thank you all

Ossie