Paging the Luftwaffe Color Police: what did "Silberweiss" look like?

[Richard502]

Silberweiss as used on the Legion Condor's first Bf109s in the Spanish civil war. No paint chip for "Silberweiss" in Merrik's "Monogram Luftwaffe paining guide" nor in Merrick & Kiroff "Luftwaffe Camouflage  & Markings".

TIA, Richard

[thorfinn]

Essentially the same color used on Pfalz production aircraft in the Great War. I find a mix of (2) parts aluminum to (1) part white seems to match WW2-era photo effects quite nicely. (But I freely admit that is a personal observation, not a scientifically-documented one. )

[Ossington 2]

Is it something like the underside colour of German Starfighters? A dullish silber?

[Bobk]

About half way down David Johnston answers that question and gives a good modern approximation of the color. 

 

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/viewtopic.php?f=149674&t=239891&p=2470572&hilit=a+little+help+from+Bf+109#p2470572

 

[Graham Boak]

Do we really have to believe in an otherwise undocumented RLM colour when there was Silber  RLM01?  If someone decides (or decided long ago) to refer to it as Silberweiss, that does not imply any current Silberweiss is necessarily a close match.  Might be... but if in doubt I'd stick to the recorded colour.

[Sturmovik]

4 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

Do we really have to believe in an otherwise undocumented RLM colour when there was Silber  RLM01?

Does silver go a whitish colour when it becomes duller due to wear?

[Graham Boak]

Aluminium certainly does.  Paint may tarnish differently from the bare metal, of course.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Graham Boak

[Bobk]

Mr. Johnston has done his research and quotes primary  sources from contemporary times to back up his claim that they are painted in Silberweiss. Isn't it a bit presumptive to discount contemporary descriptions of colors from people who saw, touched and ordered that color paint and painted or retouched the paint on those Bf-109's. The recorded color IS Silberweiss and not Silber RLM 01. There has been many, many suppositions as to what these Bf-109's have been painted and the one that comes closest to the photographic evidence appears to be the theory that Mr. Johnston has put forth. And the documents in the VK/.88 and pilots logs and journals point to the fact that it was Silberwiess. Mr Johnston makes a very good case that two of the units where used for assessment of the color that the Bf-109's where painted vis. a vis. camouflage and concealment, one in Silberweiss and the other unit in "European" two green scheme. Mr. Johnston has footnoted the chapter about camouflage with official documents and photos that back up his suppositions. All of this is laid out in his book "German Eagles in Spanish Skies", David Johnston, Schiffer Publications, 2018.

Edited May 9, 2019 by Julien
please dont shout in capital letters!

[dragonlanceHR]

But are we calling the same paint two similar names, or are we dealing with two different paints?

I would bet on the former.

After all, both MTT and RLM called the 109 alternatingly both Bf 109 and ME 109 up until the capitulation.

 

Vedran

[Bobk]

Until there is a record of RLM 01 Silber being used on Bf-109's in Spain, and  then the only record there is mentions Silberweiss why doubt it. If any documentation shows up that mentions RLM 01 Silber than I will gladly say that it could be RLM 01 Silber. 

[Richard502]

Bobk, thank you for the link! Looks like I have to putty the fuselage seams....

Richard

[Andre B]

How is silberweiss compared to weissaluminium?

 

Cheers / André