ATOM Luftwaffe Desert Colors Set

Desert camouflage of the Luftwaffe

As soon as the fighting moved to North Africa, European gray and green stopped working. German machines received a sand-colored upper finish and light blue undersides, along with striking yellow features on the engine cowling, on the rudder and as a band around the fuselage, by which their own side recognized them from above and from the ground defenses. This quartet of paints covers exactly that combination.

Set contents

• The sand upper shade Sandgelb RLM 79 for the upper surfaces of the wings and fuselage.
• The light blue Hellblau RLM 78 for the lower surfaces and the sides.
• A dark green tone for irregular mottling and transition areas.
• A golden yellow shade for theater recognition features.

Notes on building

Desert machines wore out quickly, so after the base coat comes chipping of the finish on the leading edges, faded upper surfaces and dust settled on the underside of the fuselage. It pays to spray the sand shade in several graded coats, so that the area does not look like a uniform board; the sun bleached the paint on the real machines very unevenly. The yellow features are applied last and over a white base, because yellow covers poorly on its own.

The paints are acrylic and are released individually as well.

The set is built as a foundation, not as a complete chart. For a full build a paint for the landing gear bays, for the inside of the cabin and for the metal areas of the powerplant is usually added. For a first machine from the African theater, though, it will cover everything that is visible on the model from outside.