Luftwaffe Aircraft Camouflage and Markings

[Airframes]

All my reference point to what Wurger has posted also. Additionally, a few years ago a friend had a (real) Bucker Jungmann painted in a similar scheme, and the colours, again, were as described by Wurger, with the interior in RLM 02.

 

[alkimista]

hey guys!!this is my first post here and i would like to know if someone can help me with some doubts i have.
i'm still very confused about early war luftwaffe cockpit colors.i have some bf 109 Es that i want to build,from E1 to E7.what should be the most correct color for the Emil's?did they all were in rlm 02 or could they be also in rlm66 at that time?or even both colors in the cockpit?can i trust in the colors of museum aircraft?
during some research i have found an E-1 and E-4 with what it looks rlm66 and an E-3 with rlm02.
sorry about this "confusion"but i'm really confused about this subject.
i hope someone can clear my mind about this.
thanks in advance.

 

[Wurger]

According to a few books about the Bf109E colours, the whole cocpit interior was painted with RLM02 initially.Between 1939 and 1940 the RLM66 was intriduced and as a result the RLM02 disappeared .Although the RLM66 should have been used for a whole cockpit painting these could be painted with the RLM66 partially only.To sum up, E-1/ early E-3 had their cockpit interiors painted with RLM02 untill 1939/40.Later assambled E-3 / E-4 planes had their cockpits painted with RLM66..It seems that many of these early Bf 109Es that were damaged or needed repairs in later period of 1940 could have their cockpits re-painted

 

[alkimista]

thank you Wurger for enlight me about this subject.i appreciate your help a lot. i was really confused.i didn't knew much about early Emil's cockpits colors.
now it's time to put my hands at work e start painting those birds
thanks again.

 

[Wurger]

You'r welcome . Good luck !!

 

[imalko]

Is there some examples (photos or color profiles) of late war Bf 109Gs or Bf 109Ks painted with black outline fuselage crosses? I've noticed that some late war Messerschmitts had black outline under wing crosses, but crosses on the fuselage were mostly some variation with white outline. I'm curious if any Bf 109G and Ks wore black outline fuselage crosses as some Fw 190s did.

 

[Don Woody]

Can any one help me find profiles about spanish , escuadrillas azules.
thank you.

 

[Wurger]

To be honest I haven't seen that kind of the national markings used in the period of war.

 

[kgambit]

To be honest it is not true.The RLM rules stated clearly how LW planes had to be painted.There were basic camo patterns for all kind of planes both fighters and bombers( used at hight and day),etc...also the desert one.But the war conditions forced the technical crews to adjust these patterns to the battle field needs.What is more, at the end of war there were huge problems with all in Germant so they had to use what they had.

Did the RLM also dictate whether the color edges of the camo schemes should be "hard" or "soft" color transitions? I know that the Regia Aeronautica actually mandated a "hard" transition initiailly and then switched to "soft" color overlaps sometime during the war (late 1942 I believe but I could be wrong).

By the way, one of Njaco's links (the one showing the luftwaffe emblems at Christo's site) isn't working. Try these two links instead:

http://chrito.users1.50megs.com/_data/divemblems/luftwaffe/?thumb=1

http://www.wwiidaybyday.com/ (click on the Truppenkennzeichen an Flugzeugen image - middle pic, upper row)

 

[Wurger]

Thank you for these links.They wll come in handy undoubtedly.

For all kinds of German WW2 aircraft there were prepared camo schemes that clearly stated which colours should be used and how these should be painted.So my answer is yes the RLM did. Of course there were exceptions that might have occured in units.

 

[kgambit]

Thank you for these links.They wll come in handy undoubtedly.

For all kinds of German WW2 aircraft there were prepared camo schemes that clearly stated which colours should be used and how these should be painted.So my answer is yes the RLM did. Of course there were exceptions that might have occured in units.

Okay, some follow up questions:

1) Again the Regia Aeronautica dictated the change to "soft" edges for ALL aircraft camo schemes. Was the RLM dictate similiar in that the edges were UNIVERSALLY (albeit with the occassional exception as you noted) either soft or hard regardless of type of plane or did they vary across plane type? AND if they opted for one versus the other Universally, which one did the RLM mandate? Hard or Soft?

2) Where can one find a summary of the prepared camo schemes? I'm not refering to the colors here so much as the shapes of the camo schemes. I've found lots of references which outline which colors are used for specific planes. It's the layouts that I am looking for. Right now I have been relying on the camo schemes in kits but as we both know those can be dubious at times. Searching the web for an overall reference has not proven to be as useful as I had hoped. I would even settle for an in-print reference tome if you can provide a title and author.

 

[Wurger]

Ad 1. I haven't heard about the similar RLM order.All German WW2 planes were airbrushed in factories with using of paper masks.Of course during usage aircraft in units there was a need to repair or simply refresh a camo scheme.For some reasons it could be made in a hurry or without masks.That's way some different looking camo scheme appeared.More differences appeared at the war end when there was a lack of everything.There are known Bf109s with numbers painted with an airbrush direct on fuselage without any masks.What is more these were assembled with conponents made in different manufactures that used different paints or different layout of camo spots.

Ad 2. There are two volumes of Ken Merrick's books about LW camo schemes and paintings ( pics below).Also I have the AJ-Press series about LW colours but it is in Polish.And I haven't seen the series in English.Certainly there is a lot of books about the thread.

 

[Wayne Little]

Is there some examples (photos or color profiles) of late war Bf 109Gs or Bf 109Ks painted with black outline fuselage crosses? I've noticed that some late war Messerschmitts had black outline under wing crosses, but crosses on the fuselage were mostly some variation with white outline. I'm curious if any Bf 109G and Ks wore black outline fuselage crosses as some Fw 190s did.

I know of one...now where is it?

 

[kgambit]

Ad 1. I haven't heard about the similar RLM order.All German WW2 planes were airbrushed in factories with using of paper masks.Of course during usage aircraft in units there was a need to repair or simply refresh a camo scheme.For some reasons it could be made in a hurry or without masks.That's way some different looking camo scheme appeared.More differences appeared at the war end when there was a lack of everything.There are known Bf109s with numbers painted with an airbrush direct on fuselage without any masks.What is more these were assembled with conponents made in different manufactures that used different paints or different layout of camo spots.

Ad 2. There are two volumes of Ken Merrick's books about LW camo schemes and paintings ( pics below).Also I have the AJ-Press series about LW colours but it is in Polish.And I haven't seen the series in English.Certainly there is a lot of books about the thread.

Thanks! I knew about Merrick's books but volume is out f print and has a price tag of almost 300$+ IF you can find one.

Have you seen Merrick's Photo Folio Volume 1?

 

[Wurger]

Rather no...I haven't

 

[phas3e]

I've seen 2 109s with Black crosses on the fuselage, one was a scrap heap photo which I cant find atm and the other is in

'Camouflage and markings of ANR' pg285

109G14 W.Nr.464380 "Yellow 1" 5 Squadriglia 2 Gr

 

[Wayne Little]

Another is Yellow 5 of JG53, noted as a late G

Modellers Datafile Part 2 F to K variants by Lynn Ritger.

 

[imalko]

Another is Yellow 5 of JG53, noted as a late G

Modellers Datafile Part 2 F to K variants by Lynn Ritger.

Can you post picture or color profile of that Bf 109, Wayne?

 

[Njaco]

Along with the books that Wurger provided, I would also suggest this series, especially the first as it contains alot of the orders for what exactly the camo and markings should be.

 

[Wurger]

Yep...the one is of the most interesting series I have ever seen.