WWII Era Spade colour.

[TeeDee]

Picking up this 1954 produced War Office spade later on.
Probably going to gift it to a friend who has a 1957 land rover as his pride and joy.

I want to give it some TLC before I do that . Make it nice and 'Man Pretty'

So the question would be - what would be the original ( if any? ) paintwork colour of the metal work?
I think the American tools you see on the side of Jeeps and Half tracks tend to be a drab Olive Green - which would make sense.

But what about the British Stuff??

Ideas please.

 

[hughtrimble]

A lovely gesture. It might be worth an email to the Imperial War Museum to find out?

 

[Chris]

Wooden handle unpainted, metalwork usually would’ve been black.

Here’s a good article from someone who restored some:

British General Service Shovel, GS, WW2 Issue, T-Handle Restoration with Broad Arrow Stamp, 1940's Pioneer, Sapper, Engineer

I had the rare opportunity to pick up a trio of British General Service Shovels from a seller in the US. All three were slightly different...

sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com

 

[TeeDee]

Wooden handle unpainted, metalwork usually would’ve been black.

Here’s a good article from someone who restored some:

British General Service Shovel, GS, WW2 Issue, T-Handle Restoration with Broad Arrow Stamp, 1940's Pioneer, Sapper, Engineer

I had the rare opportunity to pick up a trio of British General Service Shovels from a seller in the US. All three were slightly different...

sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com

Thank you Chris !! Brilliant!!!

 

[Broch]

I have the same model. If there's any remnant of the original finish, it's black. I just lightly wire brushed the shovel and rubbed old engine oil on it The handle was lightly sanded and oiled then waxed. I've tried not to make it look 'new'.

 

[TeeDee]

I have the same model. If there's any remnant of the original finish, it's black. I just lightly wire brushed the shovel and rubbed old engine oil on it The handle was lightly sanded and oiled then waxed. I've tried not to make it look 'new'.

Yeah - I am on the fence on that one.

The patina of time does look 'good' on it ( as indeed it looks also good on yourself Broch !! ) < joke >

But equally - I don't want it to just be passed over as yet another random old tool ( This time Broch I'm not talking about you - honest ) but would like to bring attention to its provenance and war dept markings.

I'd kind of like to make it new again.

 

[lou1661]

I have a similar one, but later dated. It was covered in green paint, I scraped the paint off and used boiled. Linseed oil l. Sprayed the metalwork black. Looks good and feels great in the hand. Still lives in my car

Louis

 

[TeeDee]

I have a similar one, but later dated. It was covered in green paint, I scraped the paint off and used boiled. Linseed oil l. Sprayed the metalwork black. Looks good and feels great in the hand. Still lives in my car

Louis

I've been handling this recently and why for the love of all things sacred can we not build to the endurable quality of this now?

Its not overly large so I can't say its built 'like a tank' but its definitely got inherent strength and endurable resilience to it. Its one of the most basic is tools to make , is 70 years old and feels as well made ( no movement at any point ) as anything pricey from the garden centre that I would probably end up snapping.