 The Lafette |
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Paintwork and finishNow, let's turn on the colors! The paintwork of the Lafette is well worth a study of it's own. Normally the paintwork of a Lafette will fall into one out of four categories:
To determine which is which, a close look at the actual painted areas and what it is that has been painted should be enough! A factory paint job was applied by spraying the parts and leaving them with a nice and even surface with a solid, semi-gloss baked appearance. Field paint would most of the time be applied with a brush, leaving rough brush strokes. But it could also be applied as spray paint, although this would be much rougher than the factory finish. A field applied paint finish would also leave traces of the original factory paintwork underneath. If the paint doesn't match the typical German equipment colors of Dunkelgrau or Sandgelb it is most likely post-war applied and falls into the category "Repaint". If the Lafette has no trace of the factory applied original paint it has been post-war "Refurbished"; stripped of all paint and repainted entirely. And out of these, the first one is of course the one that is most interesting! Factory paint  A 1938 dated Lafette in factory applied 3-tone camouflage. The painting of the Lafette must have been a pretty standardized job. Each Lafette was painted by the manufacturer according to the "color of the year". It appears that central orders have been issued in regards to which color scheme the procuring authorities wanted their items delivered in. By studying different types of items I have found a pattern that seems to be very consistent in regards to colors. Roughly, the army started up with a 3-colour camouflage of tan/green/brown, then switched to Dunkelgrau (panzergray) with brown camouflage, then reduced the demand to only panzergray, and then finally switched to just Sandgelb (tan).
The earliest year of manufacture I have been able to study was 1937, but the Lafette pictured in the 1936 dated publication HDV 127/2 is clearly in a 3-tone camouflage. The latest manufactured Lafette 34 I have seen was 1943 dated and it was painted panzergrey. As I have never found any later standard Lafette 34's I must assume that a factory painted tan one doesn't exist (until I am proven wrong :-). MG42 Lafettes was manufactured in panzergrey in 1943. They then switched to tan either late 1943 or early 1944. All the tan Lafette 34's I have seen so far have been field paints of early war production, with the exception of a "Lafette 34 neuerer Fertigung" (called a Gebirslafette by some). The tan (Sandgelb) paint was only introduced in the industry somewhere into 1943, and by then the production of the Lafette 34 seems to have been coming to an end, leaving production capacities for the Lafette 42. (I have seen 1944 dated Lafette 34's, but they have always turned out to be mismatched, postwar refurbished/assembled "varities".  A 1940 dated Lafette. Note the Panzergrey paintwork with factory applied brown camouflage. The paint scheme follows the year of production for the pre 1943 production, but some items change color during the year as well. An example not adhering to the "color of the year"standards is the sub-manufactured search-fire mechanism on the 1938 3-tone camouflage Lafettes (study the picture on top of the page!). On more than one of these the search-fire mechanism was factory painted in Panzergray with brown camouflage (as 1939 standard). One specimen studied had actually been repainted by the troops to the 3-tone camouflage! I also know for sure that a 1938 3-tone camouflage search-fire mechanism exist, so the change must have taken place sometime during late 1938. But I think we can safely say that the color scheme never "travelled backwards". Application of paint at the factory must have been done at certain stages of production. Some of the hardware was mounted, and some not, as some of the blued screws and bolts show no sign of painting at all, while others were clearly mounted at the time of spraying (and never blued at all!). By observing the 1938 Lafette 34 in camouflage I would say that the main parts were sprayed before they were assembled. And again, some of the minor sub-assemblies had not yet been attached at the time of painting. Items not painted on the early production included: -The pivot for the AA-extension. It was masked off and left unpainted, as the surrounding area was painted. -The hidden extension of the front leg. -The hidden extension of the front leg support arm. -The T&E mechanism. This was clearly painted by the sub-supplier and delivered ready for mounting. -Almost all aluminum hardware, like the buffer spring assembly and the supporting brackets of the rear locking lip. Excluded are the large wing nuts of the rear legs, which was indeed painted -Some blued details, like the trigger actuator block with selective fire mechanism and the levers for the leg extension lock and front leg support extension lock. -The optical sight block in aluminum with its blued iron support. -The aluminum or steel T&A arch with mounting hardware.          Pictures above show hardware or areas that was left unpainted on a 1938 Lafette Also worth mentioning; the adjustable front pad was mounted on the leg after painting, so that the front leg would have a painted surface any which way the pad was placed. The leather pads were then sewn on and the leg assembled. Field paint Any item used for some time would eventually need a repaint; most often applied by the troops in the field themselves. Camouflage also saw renewed interest towards the end of the war, and with the items already delivered in tan; troops just added green and brown and got what helmet collectors today refer to as the "Normandy" camouflage. But as we can see, that was only the "wheel of paint" doing a full turn as we were back in 1936 again! Another version of the camouflage would of course have been the whitewash for winter warfare. I have never seen any surviving original Lafettes in whitewash, but since the war ended in May that isn't strange at all, as it would have been removed as the snow melted. (But hey, what a tempting idea for the fakers :-)  Picture published in Der Adler. This is a whitewashed Lafette 34, but it has also got a fair amount of snow on it. Note the eyes of the gunner. Field applied paint jobs consisted either of repainting the item in question with the same color, changing the color to the "color of the year" or adding camouflage. In theory, the color could also be changed "back" to earlier patterns. I do have a factory painted Laufschützer in tan that has been repainted in the field to Panzergrey, most probably because it suited the troops better...So in theory, the same could have happened to a Lafette!  Another 1940 dated Lafette. It was factory painted in panzergrey, but later got a coating of Sandgelb in the field!  And yet another 1940 dated Lafette. This one has been field painted in panzergrey above the factory applied panzergrey. As mentioned earlier, the field repaint was mostly carried out by using brush. The field painted Lafettes tended to receive more paint than the factory finish gave them. The troops repainted the aluminum parts, which tended to lose their anodized finish, like the sight block, the buffer spring assembly etc. The work carried out would of course be sloppier than the factory finish.  Note how the Sandgelb paint has been liberally applied to the optic block, base and hardware. Repaint A repainted Lafette is a post-war painted original. The very nature of the repainted Lafette means that it has gone from WW2 service in German colors to do service for another nation post-war in a new coat of paint. The good thing about a repaint is that the original paintwork is underneath the repaint, and that the repaint in most cases has preserved the original paintwork from post-war wear and tear. In some cases it is well worth restoring it back to the original color. But this depends on how much of the original paint that was left prior to the repaint and how easy it is to remove the repaint! Typical repaints are the Lafette 34 used post-war by the Norwegian army. These Lafettes were airbrushed, leaving only (most of) the leather pads and the Überschießtafel unpainted. The typical color of a repainted Lafette is Nato Olive Drab. The German WW2 forces never used green painted Lafettes, but more on this subject will be found on the "Postwar use" chapter (once it is written...).  A typical repaint. Note how the Panzergrey and red primer peeks through the postwar OD in the scratches and worn areas. Refurbished The refurbished Lafette has normally been stripped for all its original paint and repainted in the color of the new army using it. The paint stripping could have been done chemically with acids/paint strippers or mechanically by sandblasting. The T&E was normally removed prior to this, as it is a delicate instrument and sandblasting the Überschießtafel would mean that it was destroyed (made out of aluminum or celluloid plastic). On many refurbished Lafettes the T&E will be repainted (often black) while the rest of the Lafette has been sandblasted and repainted. Often this was done at the same time as the Lafette 34 was rebuilt to accept the MG3/MG53, but more on this subject will be found on the "Postwar use" chapter. The refurbished Lafettes were normally painted in a green paint, which could range from a pale OD (Austria) to slimy, gooey green in Yugoslavia. If the paint was removed by sandblasting the original German paint can be found underneath the bolt box or behind the clamp holding the lower back pad, and some of the parts will show pitting from removed rust.  A postwar refurbished Lafette 42 from the Bundes Heer (Austrian army). It has been completely stripped of paint by sandblasting, and repainted without any primer.  The T&E from the same furbished Lafette. Note how some of the original paintwork is preserved only on the parts of the T&E..  A Yugoslavian Lafette for the M53. These are often hard to tell apart from the German WW2 Lafettes, as they are mixed up original parts with new made parts. This specimen has an original rear cover, while the rest of the Lafette is manufactured in the 1950's. Another category of refurbished Lafettes are the ones refurbished by collectors today, to bring them back to their old glory. Most of these are easy enough to tell apart from the real deal with some logical sense. The paint and weathering technique will seldom manage to cover 70 years of age and use that the ones in original color have. Wear and tear to the paint Some of the Lafette's saw heavy wear and had to be repainted during the war years, while others appears next to mint today.  Note that the legs are worn down to bare metal, and that the cartridge belt has gnawed off most of the paint to the upper frames left side. The typical wear pattern to the original factory paint includes the following areas: -The rear legs. This part of the Lafette is by far the most worn part on any Lafette -The spent cartridge tray. It is the part that will get the most of the "mechanical beating" while the Lafette is in use. -The left edge of the upper sleigh, where the cartridge belt gnaws away at the paint if the Schütze #2 doesn't follow up properly and lift the belt! -The firing grip. -All other areas with an edge prone to come in contact with objects while the Lafette is being moved around!  On the above picture the wear pattern from the spent shells can be seen clearly. This picture also show a factory paint, a field paint, and partly in the upper right area a repaint! Fake paintwork Sad to say, but they work in this field as well. Totally restoring/repainting/marking Yugoslavian "Lafette 53" has now become industry! Take a look at these pictures and try to spot what is wrong with the paintwork.  Looks convincing from a distance? The color is a bit "off" and it is too glossy.  Looking closer you will now see the stripes from the sanding paper on the edges. Also note that the wear and tear to the metal doesn't correspond with the paintwear at all.  Oouch. He forgot to study the manual! Even though the Yugos blued their search-fire, the Germans always painted theirs! Also note the bad quality Überschiesstafel! The "tan" metal looks very uneven and almost handmade.  The Yugo optic block is aluminium that has been anodized deep black. To disguise this the parts have been sanded down to the bare metal, leaving only a greyish-black shine. Note the had made finnish to the "tan " part that holds the block.  Note the sanded edges and welding seams, manipulated to look worn (but just silly in my eyes!) Now, let us sling our Lafette and move on to another aspect of this fascinating piece of military history!  |
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