Hello. I've finally got the courage up to ask a question on this excellent site. And I do apologise for digging up this old chestnut. But my question is actually about where the scheme was painted as opposed to what the colours were. I think it's fair to assume the base colours of the Mk 1's was a Grey. Perhaps a Naval Medium Grey? But was the camouflage applied to the entire vehicle? Did the crews actually paint the roof of the hull? Or the rear hull and steering tail?
While going through some of the previous posts on the Solomon scheme here. I noticed that someone posted an image showing cammo on one of the boxes mounted to the steering tail of a Mk 1. But it doesn't really show if the scheme is on the tail itself.
And does anyone know if the anti grenade frames were painted at all? What photos I have don't really show enough detail. But perhaps there is written evidence?
Hi Shane. Welcome to the forum. The Solomon camouflage, from the pictures I have checked, looks to have been applied to all surfaces except the roof forward of the rearmost panel, the roof (and probably the rear) of the cab and the roof of the sponson. There aren't a great deal of photos which show the areas in question but the rear area between the horns certainly appears to have been camouflaged. The tailwheels are camouflaged and it would seem odd if they were the only part of the tail to be camouflaged.
Photos which show the roof of a MkI are rare - a rather poor quality pic of two tanks ditched in Delville Wood on 15/9/16 is seen here. A better quality pic of the tail of a wreck from 15/9/16 (taken in 1917) is also attached - is it weathering or camo? (Thanks to Mark, who sent me the original). I'm fairly sure the grenade roofs were not painted - they were assembled and shipped to France almost literally overnight. Camouflage was applied to the lower, as well as the upper, bow plate.
Hi All from what I can see from the pics I have the tale wheels appears to be camo although its not at all clear as their not good pics... However to me the secound pic Rhomboid posted looks more like its splashed with mud....
Thanks for the replies guys. It's a tough question I know as most images that exist of the Mk 1's aren't clear enough or at the right angle to see. Having them coated in mud wouldn't help either. The image of the wheels is interesting as it does appear that there are what appears to be hard edged markings which could be cammo. If that's the case, then I agree. Why paint them and not the entire tail assembly? This might have to come down to "artistic licence"
Thanks Mark. Yes I can see it on the hubs. Very interesting, yet it's hard to tell if there's any cammo on the hull rear or roof. Thanks for the image.
