DAK SOLDIERS UNIFORM COLORS

The Afrikakorps uniform and its two faces

The men who stepped ashore in Tripoli in February 1941 were issued a tropical uniform of cotton twill in olive green. The African sun, however, dealt with it in its own way: within a few weeks it faded into sand and khaki tones, and the longer a soldier served in the field, the lighter the tunic he wore. In a single period photograph a newcomer in green thus stands next to a veteran in the shade of faded hay.

Composition of the set

The six shades cover both states and break each of them down into a shadow, a base and a highlight. Three colors carry the sand line from a dark brown for the deepest folds through a middle tone up to a yellowish lightening of the most worn places. The second trio does the same for the green variant, from a very dark green to a light tone on the tops of the folds. The modeler therefore has nothing to mix and works straight away with a ready-made scale.

Use

These are water-thinnable third generation acrylics from this brand, which take both the brush and the airbrush and are thinned with water or with the matching thinner. On a figure it pays to start from the middle tone, then place the shadow into the folds and the highlight on the edges of the knees, the shoulders and the pocket flaps. Because both families of shades come from the same system, every figure in a squad can be dressed a little differently and the unit still keeps a unified look. The shades also suit canvas shelter halves, packs and the tarpaulins of trucks, which faded in Africa in the same way.