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John

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Crécy Publishing, who now own the Hikoki imprint, are selling copies of the paint chip chart that was included with Michael Ullmann's seminal "Luftwaffe Colours 1935 - 1945":

 

http://www.crecy.co.uk/luftwaffe-colours-1935-1945-paint-chip-chart

 

At only £7.95 for 40-odd colour samples this is a bargain.

 

John

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Those are from 2002. There was a improved reprint in 2008 IIRC.

 

Vedran

 

" "Luftwaffe Colours 1935-1945, 1st edition", published by Hikoki in 2002, hardcover, 256 pages.
English translation of #5, with better photo reproduction, but missing all the color photos and the index, which is a major bummer. The camouflage pattern diagrams are in color, but rather small. Contains better quality color samples than #5, but the printers screwed up some colors, so Hikoki subsequently issued a supplemental page with 10 corrected samples.
"Luftwaffe Colours 1935-1945, 2nd edition", published by Hikoki in 2008, hardcover, 360 pages.
Revised layout with slightly larger photo reproduction and enlarged camouflage pattern diagrams. Contains some additional/different photos, some additions to the text (e.g. a couple of pages on JG 54 dark camouflage colors, some extra paragraphs here and there), plus revised translations of a few passages. Still missing the color photographs in #5, but the index is back! "

Edited by dragonlanceHR
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I've had one for 5-6 years now. I ordered the book from Crecy which turned out to be out of stock contrary to what their stock showed so they sent me a chart & said I could pay for it when the book became available. I've not seen the book again but still have the chart, it seems to include the amendments Nick has shown above. It matches the ones shown on the Crecy website.

Steve.

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6 hours ago, Ratch said:

When you look at Nick's chip and the closeness of 70/71 (splinter camo) I wonder how some modellers justify their use of colours :fuhrer:

Hi Ratch,

 

You mean like these using Tamiya's dark green/black green

 

Model_Photos_1209.jpg

 

You're right - I got the Hikoki book when it first came out and they sent me the supplement. All the other reliable references show a similar low contrast scheme for 70/71 (i.e. Monogram, Merrick, Eagle Editions).

 

I remember the Airfix catalogues showing built up Luftwaffe aircraft in their own Airfix high contrast paints and thought the Humbrol colours were wrong....

 

Cheers

 

Michael

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I have been known to add a touch of RLM02 to 71 purely to get an effect that seemed to represent what I was seeing in black & white photos, knowing the contrast was greater than factory new 70/71. It is impossible to say why it appeared thus in the monochrome image but I wanted enough of an effect of heightened contrast  to render that which appeared appropriate. We all know that black & white photo interpretation coupled with the vagaries of RLM colours is a minefield of large proportions.

Steve.

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1 hour ago, stevehnz said:

I have been known to add a touch of RLM02 to 71 purely to get an effect that seemed to represent what I was seeing in black & white photos, knowing the contrast was greater than factory new 70/71. It is impossible to say why it appeared thus in the monochrome image but I wanted enough of an effect of heightened contrast  to render that which appeared appropriate. We all know that black & white photo interpretation coupled with the vagaries of RLM colours is a minefield of large proportions.

Steve.

I wonder how reliable old photos are. In some you can barely tell the difference between 70 & 71. Indeed, AIRCAM AVIATION SERIES No.S.11 LUFTWAFFE ISBN 85045 006 3 states that Do17Zs & Ju87s are painted black green all over, probably misinterpreting old b/w photos. It must be something to do with 1940s film or the chemicals used in developing.

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On 26/01/2018 at 9:14 PM, John said:

Crécy Publishing, who now own the Hikoki imprint, are selling copies of the paint chip chart that was included with Michael Ullmann's seminal "Luftwaffe Colours 1935 - 1945":

 

http://www.crecy.co.uk/luftwaffe-colours-1935-1945-paint-chip-chart

 

At only £7.95 for 40-odd colour samples this is a bargain.

 

John

I’ve been looking for this for a while so just placed my order. Thanks for the tip!

Richard

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  • 3 months later...

Probably opening a can of worms here, but how accurate do you modellers think the Hikoki colours are ?  I bought a set of Colourcoats Luftwaffe colours, but they look very different, especially RLM 02 Grau. I was lead to  believe that the Colourcoats were quite accurate, but all the other chips of Grau 02 that I've seen look more like the old Humbrol 92 ( Iron grey ) I am thinking of buying this set, but thought I'd seek out your opinions first.   :unsure:

Edited by Starfighter
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I think if you take the long view and think about all the thousands of liters of paint that was produced for the RLM it would be highly likely that there would be a  variation between the same colors depending on who made them, time of the war they were made (material shortages, etc) the way they were applied, etc., etc.  I would think that all these charts are just as accurate as any other given the range of production tolerances. Thomas Hitchcock (Monogram Painting Guide) told me he had seen 5 different original examples of RLM 74 and none matched one another. All our existent examples are heading toward 80 years old now and there are (probably) no wet examples of RLM paint in a sealed container that can be considered totally reliable as to what the paint looked like when it was freshly produced and applied all those years ago. I for one would not like to have 3 or 4 different paint charts from reputable researchers that have all the colors exactly match each other...real life just isn't that precise.

You can  go to the paint store to buy a pint of the same paint to touch up your wall  that you painted a year ago and chances are the paint will not be a perfect match. 

As an aside I have 3 different 109G-6s on my shelf and none of the paints 74/75/76 match each other exactly which I am willing to bet pretty much mirrored what happened in reality.

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The have been a number of debatable tins of paint claiming to be Grau 02.  I think that the most reliable chart is that in the Classic work by Merrick et al, as these have been made by the original German paint manufacturer using their original recipes.  In these charts, the 02 appears similar to that in Ullman's chart, though Ullman's may be a little darker.  It is fair to say that in most photographs 02 looks lighter than these chips, but this is a known effect of viewing colours in isolation against a white background.  I know that Nick Millman did a thorough analysis of 02, but regrettably didn't save it.  At the risk of  memory suggests - warning lights flashing - that he believed it to have a yellowish tinge; I will add that this can be seen on some aircraft where it has been very slightly sprayed on the fuselage sides eg some Bf110s.  I know that Jamie has consulted with Nick on many colours, and possibly this is one of them?

 

 

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Thanks for your input, chaps . . . Much appreciated. I have a tin of Humbrol 31 Slate Grey, which is not a million miles from RLM 02. It's also very similar to FS 36165, which is given as a match in the IPMS colour cross reference guide. 

Given the variability of shades that you mention I think humbrol 31 is the colour I shall use, which should look OK with a bit of weathering, etc. Once again thanks for taking the time to reply to my question. :cheers:

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3 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

The have been a number of debatable tins of paint claiming to be Grau 02.  I think that the most reliable chart is that in the Classic work by Merrick et al, as these have been made by the original German paint manufacturer using their original recipes.  In these charts, the 02 appears similar to that in Ullman's chart, though Ullman's may be a little darker.  It is fair to say that in most photographs 02 looks lighter than these chips, but this is a known effect of viewing colours in isolation against a white background.  I know that Nick Millman did a thorough analysis of 02, but regrettably didn't save it.  At the risk of  memory suggests - warning lights flashing - that he believed it to have a yellowish tinge; I will add that this can be seen on some aircraft where it has been very slightly sprayed on the fuselage sides eg some Bf110s.  I know that Jamie has consulted with Nick on many colours, and possibly this is one of them?

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Thanks for your input, chaps . . . Much appreciated. I have a tin of Humbrol 31 Slate Grey, which is not a million miles from RLM 02. It's also very similar to FS 36165, which is given as a match in the IPMS colour cross reference guide. 

Given the variability of shades that you mention I think humbrol 31 is the colour I shall use, which should look OK with a bit of weathering, etc. Once again thanks for taking the time to reply to my question. :cheers:

 

Graham, Nick compared RLM 02 to the Japanese zero grey,  having the same amber undertone, there is discussion here

 

With links to his blog with more information.

 

Humbrol 31 is too green,  and lacks the warmth the amber gives the colour.   

 

HTH

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5 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Probably opening a can of worms here, but how accurate do you modellers think the Hikoki colours are ?  I bought a set of Colourcoats Luftwaffe colours, but they look very different, especially RLM 02 Grau. I was lead to  believe that the Colourcoats were quite accurate, but all the other chips of Grau 02 that I've seen look more like the old Humbrol 92 ( Iron grey ) I am thinking of buying this set, but thought I'd seek out your opinions first.   :unsure:

Starfighter, @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies uses the Kiroff chart for his matches; I don't know if it is the same as the Hikoki chart or not. There are at least 3, maybe 5 such charts available. The original Merrick/Monogram, the Kiroff, Eagle Editions(I have the Merrick/Monogram one in one of my infamous boxes in the garage; and, the Eagle Editions chart in the basement with my modelling stuff), and the Hikoki one(though it might actually be one of the ones just mentioned). I tried to order the chart here; but, the website wouldn't take my payment. Well, maybe later.

Want a :worms:? Talk about matching Olive Drab!

Joe

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I believe that the Kiroff chart is the same as the Merrick/Classic one I mentioned.   In addition to the ones you mention I also have the Karl Reiss and Kookaburra charts, but not the Eagle Editions one.  One has to stop somewhere.

 

I don't think the Monogram one was Merrick specifically, although he may have influenced it.  I think of it as Hitchcock.

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