I need your help with good reference sources.... (1 Viewer)

desk11desk12

desk11desk12

1st Lieutenant
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I need good resources for the following WWII themes:

• US Marine Armor colored pictures (Sherman, halftracks, etc.) complete with markings. There is plenty of Black/ white pictures out there but I haven't been able to find a source for color pictures

• Did the German DAK Panzer, Mark IV Ausf F ever have a long barrel gun (e.g. 70mm)?

This material will help me build out new So. Pacific dioramas and expand the range of my DAK dioramas.

Thank you,

Carlos
 
Carlos : The Afrika Korps only had a handfull of PZ.IV F2 long barreled 75mm gun tanks. Rommel wanted more but most were shiped to Eastern Front. They were devasting against the British armor in Libya in 1942.The British only saw the short barrel PZ.IV that only fired high explosive shells and were overwhelmed by long barrel guns. Also Rommel had some Tiger I ausf E, of the 501st Panzer in Tunisia in 1943. Squadron books have US German armor books with color drawings- they might show Marine armor. I have to look and see if I got any. John
Osprey books does a battle order series. They have three books on Marine Corps Pacific but don't know if they have photos in color or just campaigns.
 
Hi Guys,

This is going to be problematic at best because there aren't a lot of references out there for the Marine Tank Crews. One book comes to mind. Marine Corps Tank Crewmen in WWII or from 1941 to 1945. I have seen this book on ebay and it has some color plates of equipment but I think they are mainly drawings. You might try sending a letter to the Office of Public Affairs for the Marine Corps and see if they can help you with your search. Its just that there arent a lot of color sources out there for the Pacific Theater. I hope this helps a little.

Dave
 
Leadmen said:
Carlos : The Afrika Korps only had a handfull of PZ.IV F2 long barreled 75mm gun tanks. Rommel wanted more but most were shiped to Eastern Front. They were devasting against the British armor in Libya in 1942.The British only saw the short barrel PZ.IV that only fired high explosive shells and were overwhelmed by long barrel guns. Also Rommel had some Tiger I ausf E, of the 501st Panzer in Tunisia in 1943. Squadron books have US German armor books with color drawings- they might show Marine armor. I have to look and see if I got any. John
Osprey books does a battle order series. They have three books on Marine Corps Pacific but don't know if they have photos in color or just campaigns.
Click to expand...

Thanks Leadman,

I had forgotten all about that fact how Rommel fought to get more Mark IV's equipped with the 75mm gun's. I'll look into the Osprey books too, finding pictures in color will be the challegene for sure.

Again thanks,


Carlos
 
DMNamiot said:
Hi Guys,

This is going to be problematic at best because there aren't a lot of references out there for the Marine Tank Crews. One book comes to mind. Marine Corps Tank Crewmen in WWII or from 1941 to 1945. I have seen this book on ebay and it has some color plates of equipment but I think they are mainly drawings. You might try sending a letter to the Office of Public Affairs for the Marine Corps and see if they can help you with your search. Its just that there arent a lot of color sources out there for the Pacific Theater. I hope this helps a little.

Dave
Click to expand...


Thanks Dave for the tip,

I'll look up that book you recommendation. Good color drawings for the kind of research I'm doing ,may actually be beter than B/W pictures depicting actual events. That's where Osprey books may help as mentioned by Leadman.

You really think the Office of Public Affairs for the Marine Corps would help?

Thanks,

DAve
 
binder001 said:
Here's a model supplier/publisher/researcher who specializes in USMC armor. Go to "reference" and then USMC Shermans in color;

http://hardcorpsmodels.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Gary
Click to expand...

Gary,

Thanks for the suggestion; I found that one page of color pictures. Is it my imagination or did the USMC Sherman's in the Pacific have a darker green/ grey color to them compared to there US Army counter part in Europe? Also, not many of them were equipped with the 50 cal. machine again like there US Army counter part in Europe.

Carlos
 
1) ALL USMC tank of WW2 came from Army purchases, so all would have been delivered in US Army Olive Drab. From long discussions on another model site, the closest commercial model paint to WW2 OD is Tamiya XF62. Many people int that color to suggest weathering or fading.

When a tank needed repainting, I don't think there was anything to prevent them being done in USMC green, which was a darker, greener color.

The problem with using period photos is that the older color films have often shifted over the years, plus certain films have different color sensitivities. For instance Ektachrome film (movies and slides) tended to emphasize the greens and blues.

2) Yes, the USMC rarely used the Sherman's .50 cal HMG in the Pacific. The Marine tanks usually operated "buttoned up" against Japanese infantry who often climbed onto the tanks to try to damage or destroy them. The Japanese would have turned the guns on Marines. Besides, with the tanks closed up there was no way for the Marines to use the .50's anyway.

Gary
 
desk11desk12 said:
Thanks for the website OzDigger,

It appears to be a subscribtion site. I'm NOT oppose to paying if the quality and selection match the subscription rate.

Based on your experience of this website are the pictures worth the investment?

Carlos
Click to expand...

Hi Carlos, I haven't noticed any subscription requirements on the site. The FAQ sections says most of the photos were taken by the US government and are basically public domain. Therefore you don't have to pay anything to use those photos as long as you don't obtain a financial benefit. So copy and enjoy imo.

Many of the pics are posed but show some handy details like this halftrack and Marine:
marinehalftrack5pu.jpg


Others are more natural but still show excellent uniform details etc:
marineresting4mk.jpg
 
The quality of the photo of the marine against the tree seems to good to be WWII vintage, I wonder if it's a more recent re-enactment pic.

Btw, what is the significance of a ring on the pinky finger, is it some US military or school thing or something?
 
OzDigger said:
The quality of the photo of the marine against the tree seems to good to be WWII vintage, I wonder if it's a more recent re-enactment pic.

Btw, what is the significance of a ring on the pinky finger, is it some US military or school thing or something?
Click to expand...


OzDigger,

You're right, Its not a pay site. It has some good color pictures. At first, it was a little difficult to navigate through the site but worth it.

Thanks,

Carlos
 
Carlos,
There is an excellent book in the Armor at War Series from Concord Publications called Tank Battles of the Pacific War, 1941-1945 with some excellent color plates of Japanese and American tanks. It is # 7004 in the series and I highly recommend it.......
 
binder001 said:
1) ALL USMC tank of WW2 came from Army purchases, so all would have been delivered in US Army Olive Drab. From long discussions on another model site, the closest commercial model paint to WW2 OD is Tamiya XF62. Many people int that color to suggest weathering or fading.

When a tank needed repainting, I don't think there was anything to prevent them being done in USMC green, which was a darker, greener color.

The problem with using period photos is that the older color films have often shifted over the years, plus certain films have different color sensitivities. For instance Ektachrome film (movies and slides) tended to emphasize the greens and blues.

2) Yes, the USMC rarely used the Sherman's .50 cal HMG in the Pacific. The Marine tanks usually operated "buttoned up" against Japanese infantry who often climbed onto the tanks to try to damage or destroy them. The Japanese would have turned the guns on Marines. Besides, with the tanks closed up there was no way for the Marines to use the .50's anyway.

Gary
Click to expand...


Great insight Gary,

That makes sense know that you have explained the rarity of .50 cal machine guns on Shermans in the Pacific. Good heads up on the paint tips too.

Carlos
 
Warrior said:
Carlos,
There is an excellent book in the Armor at War Series from Concord Publications called Tank Battles of the Pacific War, 1941-1945 with some excellent color plates of Japanese and American tanks. It is # 7004 in the series and I highly recommend it.......
Click to expand...

Thanks Warrior,

I'll look it up. I just received an old movie through Amazon yesterday called "Battle Cry". It was one of the few movies in the early 50's I remembered depicting the US Marines in the WWII pacific shot in color.

Interesting enough, the armor and vehicles were in a very dark green/ black color with yellow markings and with .50 cal. machine gun mounts on the Sherman. Perhaps the machine gun mounts were a little bit of Hollywood theatrics.

You guys have been great with the info you've shared.

Thanks,

Carlos
 
Carlos,

"Battle Cry" was made in 1955 so the tanks shown were from USMC reserve training equipment, therefore thay are painted in USMC green with yellow markings as was common at that period. I believe that some WW2 vehicles may have markled that way also.

Another good movie for that era is "Halls of Montezuma" made in 1950. That DVD was on many sale tables in the US for a couple years. Again, a purely Hollywood story, but early in the movie there are very good footage of USMC late-model Amtraks carrying the troops ashore. When they meet resistance the call goes out for armor support and they show USMC M4A3 75mm Wet Stowage tanks being ferried ashore and a platoon of them supporting the infantry. About this time the Marines were getting rid of the last of their 75mm M4A3s, so this movie has to be the last one to use them while they were active USMC tanks.

One thing about WW2 Marine armor, there was variety from unit to unit and between campaigns. One of the differences between Army units in Europe and Army/Marine units in the Pacific was that in Europe a division would enter combat and stay active for long periods. In the Pacific a unit might attack an island, sustain heavy casualties but then be moved to a rear area to rest, resupply and absorb new personnel. For tanks this meant that a unit would have time to modify tanks, repaint, or draw new vehicles, that's why you have to define what campaign you're interested in, versus just "the Pacific War".
 
And don't forget guys there is also that World War Two in Color documentary series that was out a few years ago, it's now available as separate American, German, Japanese, British and Australian war dvds.
 
How about the History Channel web site, like Oz said, they have excellent documentaries and that WWII in color series might be just what your looking for.

Fred
 
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