Camouflage on German aircraft post 1941

[Phas3e]

I always took the close up of the colour demarcation to indicate  the soft edge overlap of the colours and that Erla were the only ones to take it literally hence their saw tooth pattern.

[dov]

The drawings form and title block are from Messereschmitt company. With mark from these company.

It may have been a conversion or transformation of a RLM rule or law, for the company use.

Regards

[alt-92]

35 minutes ago, dov said:

The drawings form and title block are from Messerschmitt company. With mark from these company.

 

Forgive me for being a bit skeptical, but from the pictures you've posted, they look like a rather recent reproduction (i.e. paper quality and ink look fresh). 

What is the source of these pictures?

 

[Graham Boak]

Photos of new and restored aircraft should be ignored.

 

Yes, Spitfires and other British aircraft often had soft edges to the camouflage, although 2 inches (50mm) would be the maximum on the production line.  As far as I can see this principle was the same for German aircraft: the key difference between early and late was was that initially the colours used a straight line separation whereas later a wavy demarcation was permitted.  At least on the fighters: I don't recall seeing photos of such a wavy demarcation on late production bombers.  Junkers was continuing to paint aircraft in fairly rigid 70/71 splinter right up to the end: even the Ju.388J night fighter is seen like this.

 

A stepped pyramid demarcation to that fine a definition is simply unattainable in mass production, without detailed masking.  If the "Tannenbaum" demarcation was caused by the reasoning given above  an attempt to match this stepped demarcation, then it shows how impossible the thing would be to achieve.  As this must have been known to the original draughtsman, then it was drawn for some other purpose.  Whether this was to allow for the maximum deviation of the demarcation line from the drawing, or the permitted overlap in spraying, is not clear, but I suspect the latter as the wavy patterns appear to curve in much wider bands than 100mm.

 

[LiamA]

Also interested in which publication these drawings are in.