Acrysion - RLM74 tmavě šedá

A cool gray-green from the spines of fighters

From 1941 German fighters abandoned the green camouflage tones and the upper surfaces were given a pair of grays. The darker of them covered part of the spine, the wing roots and the top of the tail, a somewhat lighter gray completed it and the underside stayed in a pale blue. The Bf 109 F and G versions flew in this scheme, as did the Fw 190 from its first production batches, and the twin-engined night fighters had the same palette.

The boundary between the two grays tended to be hard and angular, and on later machines sprayed instead. It is precisely the manner of the transition that tells a model from 1941 apart from one from the last months of the war far more than the shades themselves, so during a build it is worth deciding first which period the model is to match.

What to expect from the paint

Cool gray-green tones easily merge into a single area on a small model. To keep the pattern legible, it is recommended to increase the difference between the two grays slightly, in 1:72 scale by a noticeable step without hesitation.

The medium is thinned with water and applied with an airbrush; stir it from the bottom before drawing it out. On the sides of the fuselage these machines often had patches sprayed freehand, so even this shade usually needs to be used twice on a model: once in a continuous area and the second time as small spots over a lighter base.

The saturation of the darker gray can be brought to life on a model by mixing a drop of black into it and going over only narrow strips inside the pattern with the resulting tone. The area thereby gains depth without the overall impression changing, and seen from a distance the scheme stays exactly as the standard prescribed it.

Pour the medium left in the cup away, it thickens at the bottom.