Modern Luftwaffe paint set vol.3

The gray world of the Luftwaffe after 1990

The third volume of the range devoted to the modern Luftwaffe concentrates on the period when MiG-29 machines taken over from the former East German forces joined the inventory and when the Phantoms were seeing out their service alongside them. The set holds six bottles and falls into two clear halves.

The first is made up of three camouflage grays. Light Ghost Grey to FS 36375 belongs on the lower surfaces in the Norm 90J scheme, that is on the F-4F and on the MiG-29 in the G and GT versions, and in the Norm 95 scheme on the Tornados. Dark Ghost Grey to FS 36320 covers the upper surfaces and the undersides of the wingtips in the same schemes. Medium Grey to FS 35237 lies on the upper surfaces in both patterns and is at the same time the overall shade of today's Tornados and Eurofighters.

The second half is devoted to the details by which a model is recognized. Stone Grey to RAL 7030 matches the radome on the nose of the Phantom in its last form. Basalt Grey to RAL 7012 belongs on the aerial on the vertical tail of the Tornado and on the nose radome of the MiG-29 in the G and GT versions. Camouflage Grey, also given as Barley Grey to the British standard BS 381C:626, is the standard color of the nose and of the aerial on the vertical tail on all Eurofighters.

The shades come from the water-thinnable acrylic line and suit an airbrush as well as small touching in with a brush.

Anyone building the whole German line-up side by side will appreciate that the camouflage grays repeat across the types. The difference between the Phantom, the Tornado and the Eurofighter is then carried mainly by the nose and the aerial, that is by exactly the three shades that make up the second half of the package.