US Armor marking 1943- star and circle colors reversed

[PT Dockyard]

Here is a photo from the back of the old Ballantine's book "Tank Force" that shows a burning Sherman. On the turret you can see what looks like a marking where the star is OD and the circle is white:



I have only seen one other photo over the years with this odd marking and that was on the hood of a US Army bomb handling truck in the UK around 1943.

Has anyone else seen this reversal of colors and has pictures of it? Why was it done?

Dave G

[PT Dockyard]

Here is the bomb truck.

[OpanaPointer]

Looks like they just stenciled the roundel and didn't paint in the star. Easy if you only have white paint or the vehicles are moving out so fast you don't have time for one coat of paint to dry before putting on the second.