Luftwaffe Bomb Colours

[stona]

If you want to get your Luftwaffe bomb tailcones the right colour you can now. The relevant hanbook was posted elsewhere and I've extracted the relevant pages.

There was a suggestion in the ensuing thread that this was a set of some sort of take it or leave it guidelines.'Pirate Code' was the phrase used. The pages are extracted from this document and I can assure you that the wartime Luftwaffe was not run like a pirate ship.

There are pictures of bombs that don't seem carry the appropriate markings, or at least they are not visible.There are exceptions to every rule.

Cheers

Steve

[AlanG]

Sorry to resurect an old thread Steve but what would the body colour of the bombs be?

[Guest]

Sehr Gut!

[stona]

Sorry to resurect an old thread Steve but what would the body colour of the bombs be?

Can 'o' worms !

Dark Green (70 or 71), Dark Grey (66 or similar), Light Blue early war (presumably 65), I've seen a picture of bombs carried externally on a night camouflaged Ju 88 where the upper half of the bomb is still a very light colour (65?) and the lower half has been very roughly painted black to match the temporary colour on underside of the aircraft. I've also seen them in what looks like an unpainted form. They are often very far from pristine, it's a heavy lump of metal and since armourers seem to consider unfused bombs to be safe (God knows why!) they got some abuse.

Here's a few rare colour pictures.







The one good thing about all this is that it's difficult for anyone to tell you that you've got it wrong

One more.



Cheers

Steve

[flyjoe180]

Thanks Steve, that is very interesting. Now no need to sweat over the correct colours, if anything probably just rough them up a lot. As for the actual bomb trolley (ground handling trolley), what colour would they have been? Also, do you have any colour pictures of an Opel Blitz refuelling truck? I have a set to make in the future and am rather suspicious of the colour schemes provided.

[Guest]

I think by mid-late 1944, with supplies of all kinds getting harder and harder to obtain, produce, or ship, the Germans were using whatever came to hand. I think that gives a lot of leeway when choosing a paint job.

[Guest]

Thanks Steve, that is very interesting. Now no need to sweat over the correct colours, if anything probably just rough them up a lot. As for the actual bomb trolley (ground handling trolley), what colour would they have been? Also, do you have any colour pictures of an Opel Blitz refuelling truck? I have a set to make in the future and am rather suspicious of the colour schemes provided.

My "Dragon" kit of luftwaffe crew and officers says to paint the bomb trolley unit as "Field Grey" or tamiyas' XF65 ...hope that helps

[flyjoe180]

Thanks Steve, I thought it should be field grey.

[stona]

My "Dragon" kit of luftwaffe crew and officers says to paint the bomb trolley unit as "Field Grey" or tamiyas' XF65 ...hope that helps

I think that's fair enough. I have seen a few colour pictures of them and they always appear to be a dark grey or green (hard to tell sometimes). I remember one in Africa that had been altered, presumably locally, with blotches of a sand colour, something like RLM 79, but who knows what it was.

Joe I don't re-call a colour picture of a 'Blitz' but I'll have a look anyway. I would hazard a guess that they were supplied in a standard colour, no matter which service they were destined for.

Cheers

Steve

[AlanG]

Cheers Steve. Just getting ready to paint the bombs on my Fw190 F8

[flyjoe180]

Thanks Steve Stona, don't go out of your way to look up the truck, it's a long way off being built. Your post on bomb colours jogged my memory regarding the bomb trolley and the truck was an aside. It's the 72 Academy Luftwaffe ground kit. I have learned that the tanker may be more of a rocket/jet fuel version than a run-of-the-mill 87 Octane tanker.

[stona]

I think by mid-late 1944, with supplies of all kinds getting harder and harder to obtain, produce, or ship, the Germans were using whatever came to hand. I think that gives a lot of leeway when choosing a paint job.

There were orders regarding what colour not only Luftwaffe aircraft but also their ancillary equipment should be, extending even to canvass covers. Much of this was supplied with the aircraft, was marked with a werknummer and, theoretically at least, was to remain with that aircraft. I agree that in the real world, and a long way from Berlin, such equipment might not always quite meet the regulations

The RLM colours applied to the aircraft themselves remained remarkably consistent, despite enforced changes in formulation, until the end of the war.

Cheers

Steve