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A new venue for the SIG members who displayed at the show, I would like to say we were suitably impressed. To top off a perfect day, Rob Bedford won a gold medal with his 109. With a bit more space we were able to represent a more complete chronology of the German Air Force in it's various form. We have spotted some significant omissions though and we'll be working to plug these gaps over the coming months. In no particular order, here are a collection of photographs from our display. Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the display. One of the most common questions that we get asked at shows is with regards to colour and paint matches. This is a very broad question and falls into three distinct camps. Post war colours present few problems and will be dealt with separately. World War One sees the modeller able to access fabric samples and they are well served by decal manufacturers. Again World War One will be treated to a separate article. The real issue and subject of this article is with regards to World War Two paint matches. The head quarters of Reichsluftfahrt Ministerium (RLM) have survived the war and are very much intact but it is impossible to walk into the building and access the once extensive archives of paperwork. The building is now used by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Because a time capsule of perfectly preserved paints does not exist we are left with one of the most persistent conundrums in the scale modelling community. I often think back to conversations with my friend Steve Hague, now sadly not with us. When handed a set of paint samples from various World Was Two aircraft, Steve was instantly able to pick holes in what was intended to be a definitive reference. The samples had been in the ground for, at that time, six decades and had almost certainly altered over time. Sadly Steve was not able to offer a solution. However, equally as important, he was able to query the research behind what was presented.
There is a great deal on conventional wisdom with regards to Luftwaffe colours. Having said that there are a number of well researched works available to the modeller and I shall attempt to summarise my what I find on this website. Since many of the articles have been written, a myriad of paint manufacturers have joined the market, but for now I would like to direct you towards once of the most extensive paint cross reference guide on the IPMS Stockholm site. In an ideal world, I would like to arrive at a conclusion that one paint manufacturer has got it right and we can go to one place to get all our colours. Manufacturers like Hataka seem to be offering us an ideal solution with a collection of paint sets. However, just as my friend Steve did, I am mindful to question everything that is presented to us in the pursuit of colour accuracy. I am also waiting to see what AK Interactive offer when they expand their Real Colors range. As a starting point I have found this website very informative. It approaches the subject from a different angle: computer gaming. However, the bibliography is very useful and the website provides a good starting point in how to best approach this academic exercise. I suspect my research will not leave us with a perfect ending, but I hope you enjoy my trawl through books and online sources of information. If it doesn't give us a definitive list of paint matches atleast I will have provided something to ponder when you take a Messerschmitt of Folke Wulf out of the stash. I will be writing from the ground up. By that, I intend to write an article for the complete novice who might be building there first Luftwaffe aircraft. You will find the results of my research here. As I'm sure many of you appreciate, this.is going to take some time, so please do bear with me, A micro display at today's Huddersfield model show. Congratulations to Rob Bedford who got a highly commended for his Heinkel 219. |
The German Military Aviation
Special Interest Group The Luftwaffe SIG Newsletter online edition written by SIG Leader Nathan Robinson.
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