USMC OD

Brumbach · Post by **Brumbach** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 8:43 am

My 1951 M38 formerly served in USMC. What OD paint am I looking for? Marking scheme would be nice too, if you have it. Thanks, Bill

jeeperjoe · Post by **jeeperjoe** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 1:28 pm

Bill,

IIRC 34052 is correct for my 1952 and 1951 USMC vehicles.

Here is a good place to start regarding military paint colors. http://olive-drab.com/od_mvg_camo_carc.php. Army Jeep parts has a list of which colors to use for different models and years https://www.armyjeepparts.net/t-GCI_paint.aspx. He also has paint color swatches on another page. This site has color samples for all of the military colors and more http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedi ... f=Military also if you Google "military paint colors" and select Google Images in the results, you'll find many color samples. Also Rapco paint co has color samples and year/service specifications on their site at http://www.rapcoparts.com/padenew.html. But keep in mind that most computer monitors may not accurately reproduce colors so it may look different in person than it does on the computer.

I don't know where you're located but FWIW I bought my paint from Russell Dees of Russell's Military Vehicles. He brought a load of paint to a Florida MV show and I bought it there. That saved me a ton of money on shipping and haz mat fees.

jeeperjoe · Post by **jeeperjoe** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 1:42 pm

PS From what I've seen, the USMC vehicles are pretty plain when compared to US army vehicles. Usually just "USMC" and the vehicle number on the hood and I don't THINK any other markings. I haven't gotten that far yest so I may be wrong. Oh wait, I just looked at some of my reference photos and they show "USMC" on the LH bumperette and the VN on the RH one.

You might want to take a look at these photos. I am also rebuilding an identical model M38A1 http://chat.qth.com/viewtopic.php?t=8215. This jeep appears to have been painted with the semi-gloss version (24052) of the USMC Forest Green paint instead of the lusterless (flat) USMC Forest Green paint (34052). Hinrik has posted a lot more photos of his MRC-35a jeep but you'll have to search for them.

Brumbach · Post by **Brumbach** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 3:37 pm

Thanks so much. When I got the jeep, I recall the USMC and VIN painted on the vehicle and the od was flat. Wish I had that day to do over again. A lot less work to do had I only known. Should've taken pictures to help me along. The good news, I never modified it and keep it stock with the exception of wider wheels and tires. I did manage to keep the original wheels. It'll be great to bring her back to life. Thanks again. Bill

Post by **wesk** » Sun Mar 27, 2016 12:35 pm

Bill, The Marines only painted something more than USMC and the hood number when the jeep had a special purpose/function or when more than one Marine division served in the same theatre. In the latter case the 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc division emblems went on.

Here are some very good 1958 shots of Marine vehicles in lebanon.
https://milinme.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/

here's a few of Vietnam service M38A1's
http://www.modelwork.pl/viewtopic.php?f ... 8&start=15

These were the late WWII and early postwar TAC markings.

jeeperjoe · Post by **jeeperjoe** » Sun Mar 27, 2016 6:57 pm

Cool pictures, Wes!

Did anyone notice that the M38A1 in the two pictures labeled 'A USMC M38A1 Jeep in Beirut streets." has a lifting shackle attached near the top of the tub at the rear left corner? It also says "730" inside of a diamond painted above the left rear bumperette. In one of the first pictures, you can see something painted on the front edge of the two front fenders. The one on the driver's side looks like the diamond shaped emblem that is shown on the front edge of the hood of some of the trucks being unloaded from the ships.

I noticed that in the photo of the ships being unloaded that one of the trucks has numbers written in cursive on the top middle of their hoods and the same number written on the sides on the cargo covers of both the truck and the trailer that it's pulling. The one that I can read says "235" in LARGE letters.

The US Army M38 MG Jeeps have their windshields folded down and have covers over the windshields. Their RH bumperette markings are also different from the USMC and these appear to belong to a HQ unit.

Most, but not all, of the USMC tanks and armored vehicles appear to have "USMC" and the vehicle number on their sides and on the front fenders.

Boze · Post by **Boze** » Mon Mar 28, 2016 4:32 pm

There were exceptions. My late uncle was in the Corps and deployed to Korea for the war. His unit was Baker Co., 1st Motor Transport Battalion, 1st Marine Division. His battalion was spread throughout the division and was not part of a regiment, therefore no regimental symbols. I did up my M38 to represent his unit and asked him how the markings should be painted. He responded:

Driver’s side, front bumper:

B-1st MT.BN (2” letters)

Passenger’s side, front bumper:

1st MAR DIV (2” letters)

Both sides of hood: USMC (3” letters) then the serial number.

Back bumper left side:

B-1st MT.BN (2” letters)

Back bumper, right side:

1st MAR Div (2” letters)

There were all in yellow.

He also said it could have a large, white star on the hood to identify it as a US vehicle and not invite friendly fire from allied aircraft. The star was up to the theater commander.

Since he retired as a Master Sergeant, I took his direction as gospel.

Since the Marines kept their vehicles fairly plain, there were no markings about tire pressure, gas level filling, speed limit, etc.

Hope this helps.