TOOLBOXE'S ON MTB

[Manty769]

Thanks to all the help from Kevin (Admin) I am piecing together bits and pieces about his service and Dogboats.
Dad sadly passed away in 1982 and I ended up with a wooden toolbos, painted black with a brass nameplate R J MANT on it.
The lock has long disappeared and the box has lain in my garage for many years.
Somewhere in the distant past I was told it was his toolbox in the Navy.
He was a PO MM on MTB769 @ HMS Mantis Lowestoft, then HMS Midge
My question is :-
Would this box have been black, or would it have been in the original wood finish.
It has survived the vagaries of time, but don't want to take the black off when it should be there.