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Post Info TOPIC: French artillery paint
Pat


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French artillery paint
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"Les Canons de la Victoire" teaches me older material was painted in olive green. Would anybody know how common it was to repaint the Canon de 155 L Modèle 1877 in gris artillerie, as seen on the Fleury gun?

I am interested in guns used by the French in WW1 and WW2, Imperial Russia, and Republican Spain in the SCW (provided those were not all Russian-made guns).

Thanks in advance, Pat



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Artillerie Gris was only one possible paint job used. In the latter part of the war many of the guns were painted in multi-colour patterns. GBM said these were usually Verte Olive (Olive Green), Terre d'Ombre ( Earth Brown) or Jaune Ochre (Yellow Ochre) over a base coat of Artillerie Gris. There are images of the 155mm L Mle 1877 guns with camouflage patterns so I guess the guns were repainted to suit their roles. Anywhere close to "hot" parts of the front where aerial reconnaissance was active it would be an advantage to have camouflaged guns. The images in the GBM article (issue 81? - might have a scan somewhere...) on the 155mm Mle 1877 gun show examples of all of the paint schemes used.

Good luck trying to untangle the French guns used by the Russians. The Tsarist Army had 4 types of modern 155mm howitzer, two by Schneider and two by Krupp as well as old guns and some bought from the Japanese - their spares and logistics must have been horrendous. Perhaps the revolution didn't arise from political forces but was caused by frustrated stores officers trying to stop the idiocy of the Tsarist generals. 

Artillerie Gris is still a recognised and standard colour in Europe it's a darker grey than the images of the gun at the Verdun memorial. The Yellow Ochre colour was a clay yellow not the bright yellows we're used to. Chrome yellows didn't appear until the 1920s when it was discovered how to stabilise the bright yellow pigment.

Regards,

Charlie

 



-- Edited by CharlieC on Thursday 19th of November 2020 10:51:59 PM

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Pat


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Thank you for your reply.

I'll probably go for an olive green hue so the model can be used in a WW1, SCW and WW2 setting (have not decided yet, so in a year or ten I might ask about a good match for Tsarist artillery green biggrin).

Good catch about the GBM magazine. I had not thought about that one. No 81 is about the GPF, it is No 82 dealing with the de Bange (both including beautiful cammo schemes). You remembered perfectly well most guns in the photos / illustrations are in multi-coloured schemes. Thanks again, Pat



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I was curious enough to translate the Spanish article. I think the article is a bit muddled. The first red flag is that the author claims the guns were designed

by Saint-Chamond and made in Perm, Russia - the 155mm L Mle 1877 gun was made in French Govt arsenals, likely the Puteaux arsenal although I don't know for sure.

It was never made under license in Russia since the Russians had two equivalent 152mm guns, the 120 Pood and the heavier 190 Pood guns.

The surviving gun referred to, with inscribed Russian script, is not a 155mm L Mle 1877 but a Russian 120 Pood (152mm) gun from the 1877 artillery update. I did get some data I hadn't known before that 32 guns were sent from Russia and they arrived in 1937.

The French did supply some artillery pieces to the Republican forces which seemed to have included the old Mle 1877 guns. There were also a small number of Canon de 155 L Mle 1917 Schneider guns sent to Spain - one of these survives in Barcelona.

There is an image of the surviving 120 Pood gun in Madrid at:

http://landships.info/landships/artillery_articles.html?load=artillery_articles/152_120P_M1877.html

Regards,

Charlie

 



-- Edited by CharlieC on Sunday 22nd of November 2020 03:39:52 AM



-- Edited by CharlieC on Sunday 22nd of November 2020 03:48:59 AM

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Pat


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Charlie, there is more on the Russian-made heavies (and all the other guns) delivered to Spain in the debate which this article is part of. It mentions 40 of the 152mm guns:

http://www.sbhac.net/Republica/Fuerzas/Armas/Polemica/Mortera2.htm

Note this is a 2001 debate, so more recent information may be available. Regards, Pat



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Thank you for that link. There's a wealth of information on the WW1 guns that ended up being sent to Spain during the Civil War.

One item that caught my eye was "Cañón de 107 mm. Meiji 38 (1905 modificado)" 74 of these were sent to Spain probably from Russia.

The gun was a 10cm Krupp export gun modified for Japanese production. The Russians ordered 120 of these guns from the Japanese

during WW1 since the production of the Schneider 105mm gun, which had won the design competition, at the Putilov works was very slow to get under way.

One item that's got me stumped is a "Cañón de Saint Chamond 76.2mm/35" 50 of these were shipped from Gdynia (modern Gdansk). No idea what this gun is.

Regards,

Charlie

 

 
  
  
  


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