Lettering near the tank M 38 / USA-Stencil

DocUwe · Post by **DocUwe** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:29 am

Good morning from Bavaria!
I own a 1/52 M38 (MC50500). I want to mark the place near the filling cap. In the sentence "Max. safe fuel accept 17 GPM" what means 17 GPM, for what is this the abbreviation?
For the hood I think USA is right, not US Army? I have found 3 kinds of script; is the gothic one the right?
Thank you for answering!
Uwe

thomasarnold · Post by **thomasarnold** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:15 am

Uwe, I just sent you a PM!

Greetings,

DocUwe · Post by **DocUwe** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:43 am

Very nice, thank you!!
Uwe

Post by **wesk** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:59 am

GPM Gallons per minute.

Here's a photo of brand new 1951 M38's waiting for shipment from Toledo Oh Willys Plant.

U.S.A. is correct also you can't see the positioning of the numbers on the left side of the hood but they were not the same as the right side. They were centered between the front and rear edge of the hood.

DocUwe · Post by **DocUwe** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:56 am

Thank you Wes K and Thomas, you are so kind!! If I haven't your advise I would be a poor boy

One additional question: did the M 38 have 20... oder 23.. numbers on the hood?
In the download-center (serial number database) the army cars all have 20... numbers.

Best regards Uwe

DocUwe · Post by **DocUwe** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 1:38 am

Wes K, look:

The left side is not centered?!

How long is the number? 30 cm?

Also I want to mark the front and rear bumper; is this the right size and lettering? The background is from a GPW, think her away

Uwe

Post by **wesk** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:52 pm

Hello Uwe,

If you look closely the left side numbers are centered in the visible portion of the hood. The front BO driving light reduces the amount of the hood available for the numbers so the numbers are then centered in the available visible space.

The light weight scout car 20XXXXXX numbers began in WWII. The first two digits determined the class. 20 series was for the light scout cars and when the 20's ran out they went to the 21's and when they ran out they went to the 22's and then the 23's. The 23XXXXX run from 1950 thru early 55 when the Army switched to the 2_XXXX where _ = a alpha character starting with A.

The primary two lettering references are the AR 850-5 for the early 50's and the TB 746-93-1 http://www.armyradio.com/arsc/customer/ ... lletin.htm
http://mvpaintmarkings.mypicgallery.com/

DocUwe · Post by **DocUwe** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:29 am

Good morning Wes K,

many original M 38s I have seen on pictures have had a 20...number.
My ID-Tag is MC50500. Now I do not know which probable hood number I should choose. Thank you for answering and your work with me.
Uwe

Post by **wesk** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:05 am

The European restorers seem to favor the WWII jeep markings when they restore M38's. I don't know why but they seem to do it a lot.

The most accepted practice is to use the appropriate hood number 3 number prefix for the period your jeep was delivered and complete the last of the digits with all or part of your jeep's serial number. This prevents a conflict later with another jeep having the same hood number and also alerts anyone cataloging these jeeps that your hood number is not original but contrived by using your serial number. The correct first three digits for your hood number are 209XXXXX. So the ideal contrived number for your jeep would be 20950500.

The flow of M38 hood numbers was roughly 236XXXX from Sep 1950 thru Jan 51 and 238XXXX form Jan 51 to about Jun 51 then 2089XXXXX fron Jun 51 to Sep 51 then 209XXXXX through the end of production. Note that up through 238XXXX they use 7 digit numbers and after they use 8 digit numbers.