In my second post on Luftwaffe colours, I will be looking at a recent purchase. Aeromaster are well known for the decal range, but what may have been forgotten is that they once producted a range of paints. Colour samples from their paints range is included here. What this booklet does is highlight some of the issues that are encountered when trying to be accurate with regards to colour.

The bulk of the booklet is colour side profiles, many taken from Aeromaster's decal range.

The last three pages of the booklet are pertinent to the point in hand. There is a series of hand painted samples included.

The RLM 04 paint chip is worthy of notes. The brush marks where the paint has been applied both thinly and thickly show a definiate shift in tone. This is a point alluded to a number of references - the surface upon which a paint applied and how it is applied can have an impact on how a colour appears.

This document is not perhaps the definitive reference, in fact it points towards the conclusion that I had already arrived at: the definitive colour reference does not exist and the modeller is going to have to make do with something that is close to what was applied to the real aircraft.

An important point about scale effect is raised in the second paragraph of the booklet. The warbirds paint range is lightened to take account of scale effect, which presumably means that the twenty paint chips included are also lighter than actual RLM paints. The booklet mentions that the paint has been lightened for ease of use but they recommend a further adjustment of 15%, 10% and 5% white for scales 1/72 1/48 and 1/32 respectively.

So another variable has been introduced into the mix, if you'll pardon the pun.

 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.