Early Luftwaffe paint set

Splinter over the Channel

German aircraft of the first wartime season carried a splinter pattern of two green tones on their upper surfaces, the underside had a light blue cast, and a gray shade was used on many small details and on the mottled spray along the fuselage sides. During the Battle of Britain the fighter units then moved to a grayer scheme, and the older pattern disappeared more slowly from the bombers than from the fighters. It is exactly this early look that appeals to modelers, because it differs markedly from the later gray-blue combinations.

What the set is for

The package aims at the period from the pre-war deliveries to roughly 1941 and contains the tones that appeared in that time on the upper and lower surfaces and in the cockpit. Sister packages of the same number in the maker's other two lines rely on a combination of black-green, dark green, gray and light blue, that is on the classic splinter camouflage.

What sets the line apart

The blue line is based on a water-borne acrylic dispersion and is thicker than the version for spraying, so it holds well on a brush and does not run off edges. For an airbrush it can be thinned with water or with the maker's own product. Once dry the surface stays matte and takes further varnishing.

A practical tip

The green tones differ from one another less than you would expect, so try them on a piece of plastic before the build. The broken edges of the pattern are best drawn with a thin brush, and only then are the larger areas inside filled in. On bombers of the early period the edges tended to be sharp and regular, while on machines repaired in the field they were blurred, so you can choose just how you want to lead the pattern. The set contains paints only; the model and thinner do not belong with it.