How To Paint The Dragon 1/35 Sd.Kfz. 250/3 "Greif."

[Stikpusher]

I’ll give a more detailed reply later. But don’t use that second color. That looks closer to the midwar Dunlelgelb color introduced in February 1943. Wbill’s basic explanation is correct. Especially for the 2nd half 1941/1st half 1942 timeframe. RAL8000 is the main color with two alternate disruptive patterns: RAL 7008 or RAL 7021.

[KSaarni]

I don't really have any more concrete to contribute regarding the coloring, however following this topic with greatest interest for future projects....


- Kari

[speedgraflex]

I’ll give a more detailed reply later. But don’t use that second color. That looks closer to the midwar Dunlelgelb color introduced in February 1943. Wbill’s basic explanation is correct. Especially for the 2nd half 1941/1st half 1942 timeframe. RAL8000 is the main color with two alternate disruptive patterns: RAL 7008 or RAL 7021.

Thanks so much, Carlos!

[speedgraflex]

I don't really have any more concrete to contribute regarding the coloring, however following this topic with greatest interest for future projects....


- Kari

I'm glad, Kari. The color profiles are so important and yet so difficult to interpret.

[Stuart]

I don't really have any more concrete to contribute regarding the coloring, however following this topic with greatest interest for future projects...


- Kari

[speedgraflex]

I am leaving these notes here. I pulled what I could find from the often unreliable internet with the caveat that I would revise the notes either partially or completely after other members here weigh in with their thoughts.

RAL COLOR SYSTEM

RAL is a government commission, and their task since 1927 is to create standard colors used on government equipment, vehicles, plates and signs. Their scope of work includes all government organisations, such as Army, postal service, the railways and police. The general intention is to ensure a standard for all colors used.

RAL works with a four digit item number, the first digit stand for a basic color direction, so a 3XXX should be kind of red, while 6xxx is more a green, the second digit is still the zero, and the last two digits simply show the chronologic registration order and no shade order of a color.

Since the system is a standard in Germany, you can go into any good paint shop and they will be able to mix a gallon or two of the RAL number paint you want.

In 1927 RAL registered forty colors in the basic 840 register. Due to the large number of camouflage colors used by the military, the register grew to 120 in 1945.

However we should be careful with using the Bundesheer RAL colors as reference. The names, numbers and colors are different from the Wehrmacht colors.

DAK COLORS

The Deutsche Afrika Korps vehicles were painted with four RAL colors: 8000 and 7008 until March of 1942; 8020 and 7008 after March of 1942. Additionally, the base color of Panzer Grey 7021 was exposed by field applications of camouflage colors.

The RAL combinations used were:

• RAL 7021 Schwarzgrau
  RAL 7021 and RAL 8000 Grünbraun
  RAL 8000/RAL 7008 Khakigrau
  RAL 8000/RAL 8020 Gelbbraun
  RAL 8020 Gelbbraun
  RAL 8020/RAL 7027 Sandgrau

Some sources identified the Tigers as being painted Olive Drab. However, recent research identifies the paint as RAL 8020, but in a more greenish shade than usual.

Mud, dust, dirt and rain, water, moisture and friction quickly "color-sand" a vehicle in the field after a short time and make most paints much flatter, so the contrast "dissolves.”

GREIF

Study good b/w photos of the vehicle and look for signs of hand prints or scuffs; grey under dirt and dust. A case in point is Rommel’s command car: his GREIF was either grey/sand, brown/sand and green/sand. Whatever the permutations it was still largely covered in Sahara dust.

Rommel’s vehicle was gray over painted with a pattern of a light shade of sand more like the British interpretation—definitely not the Africa Dk yellow of later vehicles. In most photos it had a healthy coat of dust almost obscuring the camouflage pattern. The base was grey with a coat of dust then it was overpainted in a British-like sand.

[speedgraflex]

As an experiment—Mission Models Light Stone No. 61 on right side of frame:

[Stikpusher]

Light Stone was a British Army desert color. I do believe that Mission Models makes the proper DAK “tropen” colors. I’ll go have a look on their site. The German colors were darker than the British Light Stone and Portland Stone.

[Stikpusher]

Here is my little list of the “Tropen Colors” used in Africa, and also tangentialy in Southern Europe and some areas of southern Russia.

DAK colors:

1941:
RAL 8000 base, 1/3 disruptive pattern RAL 7008. Alternate of RAL 8000 over RAL 7021 initial scheme

1942:
RAL 8020 base, 1/3 disruptive pattern RAL 7027. Alternate of RAL 8020 with RAL 7021 pattern or over RAL 7021 base

and yes, Mission Models does make the appropriate colors.

https://www.missionmodelsus.com/collect ... armor-wwii

[speedgraflex]

Thanks so much, Carlos!!! Here: Mission Models RAL 8000 on the right: