Ta 152 H engine cowling colour (1 Viewer)

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Master_Ale_88

Airman
47
44
Aug 22, 2021
verde9.com
Hello everybody,
I am working on a model of the Ta 152 H-1 coded "Green 9" (W.Nr.150168) of JG 301, belonged to Willi Reschke. I am now about to begin the camouflage painting, however there is an issue that I have not solved yet and I would like to ask for your opinion. It concerns the camouflage of this aircraft. There are indeed several documents describing it as a combination of RLM 81/82/76 (according to the factory document 8-152.000-4500). Moreover, a report published on "The Aeroplane Spotter" (29th of November 1945 issue), describes this fighter as camouflaged with "various shades of green"...As a consequence, I am assuming that the used version of RLM 81 is the v.2, the only one containing no red pigment and, consequently, the only one that does not appear to be brown, but rather green. So far there are no big problems.
Unfortunately, this aircraft, as many other Luftwaffe late-war fighters, was assembled from components produced in several different factories. In this case, the engine as well as the cowling were not manufactured along with the fuselage, but were just subsequently put together.
The result is an apparent "mismatched" effect between the fuselage colours and the engine cowling one. That is exactely what I am trying to work out. Which was the colour of the engine cowling?
The main oddity is that it appears to be darker or lighter than the other colours depending on the photograph considered. This particular feature can be observed on both photographs portraing W.Nr. 150168 (Green 9) and W.Nr. 150167.
The only cocnlusion that I have drawn so far is that the colour in question is not RLM 83, since I am quite confident with the last theories that cosider this colour as a "Dunkelblau".
What is your opinion about this? Thanks for your help!!!
Here you can find the photos I am referring to.
Ta-152-81-82.png

The factory document showing the intended Ta 152 camouflage (from: https://verde9.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ta-152-81-82.png)
W.Nr. 150167 comparison.JPG

The colours shown by W.Nr. 150167, when photographed by american troops. Here it is visible the strange contrast between the engine cowling and the other camouflaged surfaces.
W.Nr. 150167 engine cowling.JPG

The engine cowling belonged to W.Nr. 150167 photographed at the Champlin Fighter Museum. Unfortunately it appears to be faded because of years of exposure to light. (from:Focke-Wulf Ta 152 H-0)
W.Nr. 150168 comparison 1.JPG

W.Nr. 150168 (Green 9) on exhibit at Farnborough with RAF insignas. This aircraft should be painted with the same scheme seen on W.Nr. 150168. However the cowling appears drastically different.
Focke_Wulf_Ta152.jpg

The same aircraft. Here the engine cowling seems almost identical in colour to the rear cowling section that, in the other photographs, appeared darker. (from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Focke_Wulf_Ta152.jpg)
 

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