Hobby color - RLM75 šedá

The lighter of the pair of upper grays

The shade marked with the number 75 formed, from 1941 together with the darker RLM 74, the pair of colors on the upper surfaces of German fighters. It is a medium dark gray with a violet undertone that shows above all in comparison with a neutral gray. Messerschmitts, Focke-Wulfs and twin-engine types carried it, usually in combination with a light blue underside.

Paint properties

The paint is based on a water dispersion and the dried surface has a silky sheen. A water dispersion allows thinning with water on absorbent surfaces, but on plastic the paint holds better once thinned with the brand's own product. It cannot be mixed with the lacquer lines of the same maker.

Recommendations for the scheme

• The boundary against the darker gray tended to be hard on early machines and sprayed freehand on late ones
• Spray the patches on the tail surfaces freehand at lower pressure
• Unify the base with a sprayable filler, otherwise the grays change tone over the joints
• The paint has to be mixed repeatedly throughout the work

The two upper grays blend easily into one area on a model if you apply them too subtly. It pays rather to emphasize the difference between them, because scaling down always suppresses contrast.

Combinations for late schemes

• With the darker gray on the upper surfaces, with a freehand transition on late machines
• With the light underside color on the sides of the fuselage
• With the patches on the vertical tail, which were applied irregularly

On machines of the Defense of the Reich it also pays to give attention to the bands on the fuselage that marked the individual units. They tended to be applied carelessly and their color varied, which is the kind of detail that marks out a carefully built model.