What colours to use for the Luftwaffe?
The next steps in the unplanned airforce expansion are two Stukas and one Bf109, all mysteriously acquired and sitting in the study ready for assembly.Having spent some time looking at the illustrations on the front of the boxes and rummaging through my library I am pretty much at a loss as to how to paint them. Given that I already have IL-2s, I plan to continue with the Russian Front theme. So, time for some research....
Luftwaffe colours: I found the IPMSS site in Sweden which gives good detail on the colours used. Their website is great: http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_germany.htm.
For the Stukas I plan to use the standard ground attack scheme RLM 71+70/65. This is Dunkelgrun and Schwartzgrun over a Hellblau undersides.
For the 109 I'll use the 1941-44 day fighter scheme RLM 74+75/76. This is Dunkelgrun and Grauviolett over Lichtblau undersides.
That sounds as though I know what I'm talking about but in reality this stuff might as well be in Chinese. I haven't got the remotest idea what these colours actually are.
Colour matching: Luckily, Vallejo have a colour equivalencies chart which means I can match RLM colours to Vallejo Model Colours. The equivalencies chart is really helpful: http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/es_ES/media/5b001b2cd9766dd8ca5eb1d045ba8c75.cms/vallejo-equivalence-2012.pdf. Also, their colour chart means I can look these colours up and get an idea what they look like http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/model-color/family/15.
Choosing paint: This is more about selecting the best match between the paints I have and the recommended RLM matches. For the Stukas I'll use the following:
RLM 71 Dunkelgrun: The match is 888 (92) Olive grey but I have 887 (93) Brown violet and will use this instead.
RLM 70 Schwartzgrun: This matches to 897 (102) Bronze green which is great because I have this.
RLM 65 Hellblau: This is 906 (64) Pale blue which I don't have. My best bet is GW Ice Blue.
For the day fighter scheme the conversions are:
RLM 74 Dunkelgrun: This is 867 (164) Dark blue grey. I don't have this one either but I have GW Shadow grey which looks similar.
RLM Grauviolett: This is 869 (162) Basalt grey. My nearest is GW Codex grey.
RLM 76 Lichtblau: The Vallejo match is 907 (153) Pale grey blue. My nearest is GW Fortress grey.
Funnily enough I have only three greys in my collection and the quickest way of selecting the colours would just have been to use the three colours to hand. Never mind, I think they will look quite good.
By the way, the numbers in () are the Vallejo position numbers, if you have ever tried to find a colour on their racks you will need this (or new glasses!).
Next time, some finished examples....hopefully.
