- Yes
- Maybe
- No
History.
The M13/40 was an Italian medium tank used with mixed results by the Italian Royal Army from 1940 to 1943 in most of the theaters of war in which Italy participated. The tank prototype was built in 1939 based on the old M11/39, and was sent immediately to the Centro Studi ed Esperienze della Motorizzazione for tests, which made a pretty good impression on the representatives of the Royal Army, who ordered various examples.
Shortly after its entry into service, the vehicle began to be advertised by the state and private industries as representing the best of Italian technology including, for example, the Duco-Montecatini paint company, one of the first Italian companies in the paint and enamel business. The company was born in 1928 from the partnership of two companies, one Italian and one American, and grew rapidly to become one of the largest companies in the industry. With the entry of the M13/40 tank into the ranks, the company was able to include a drawing of an M tank in one of its promotional artwork boasting the excellent characteristics of Duco enamel. The coloring applied in the promotional drawing is varied and unusual, and unfortunately its veracity is not known despite the use of colors already in use by Italian tank departments.
The camouflage.
The vehicle’s color scheme is a somewhat fanciful mixture of various colors, namely light brown, light blue, two shades of yellow (one light and one darker), a dry-earth-like brown, and a gray tending to green (probably the basic gray-green used in tank units). Unfortunately, it is not known whether this particular coloring was actually used in the ranks of the Royal Italian Army.
Pictures and drawnings.
Sources.