ATOM Set German KRIEGSMARINE WWII

The gray that was meant to dissolve a ship into the horizon

At the end of the 1930s the Kriegsmarine moved to a single painting system whose logic was simple: the higher above the water, the lighter the tone. The sides of the hull carried a darker gray and the superstructures and masts a lighter one, so that the silhouette of the ship lost its outline against a northern sky. Below the waterline a red-brown coating protected the steel from fouling, and the decks were given a dark covering. On top of that, individual formations added temporary patterns of their own, whether false bow waves in the Norwegian fjords or contrasting stripes meant to confuse any estimate of the course.

What the set gives the modeler

The shades are put together to cover a whole ship from the keel to the masthead, including the transitions that are hardest to judge from photographs. They are water-thinnable acrylics, set up for spraying and for brush work on small superstructures alike.

• A choice of shades for the surface units of the Kriegsmarine
• It covers the sides of the hull, the superstructures, the deck and the underwater part
• Water-thinnable acrylics with low odor
• Suitable for large and small scales of ship models
• It contains paints only; a ship model is not included in the package

On ships it pays to start from the darkest area and to lay the lighter tones over it, because the transitions then do not look hard. Leave the deck surfaces a little more matte than the sides. Bring out the rows of rivets and plates with a weak wash only once the paint has been sealed with varnish, or the shade will bleed into the surface.