WWII LUFTWAFFE COCKPIT & INTERIOR COLORS

Two generations of German cockpits in one box

The interior of German aircraft went through a shift during the war that today calls for more than one tone. Until the end of the 1930s cockpits were sprayed in a lighter gray, and from the turn of 1940 and 1941 a markedly darker gray replaced it. The package offers both, and each of them in two variants according to the year of production, because the real recipes differed between individual suppliers.

The difference between the 1938 version and the 1941 one is subtle, but on a model in 1:32 or 1:24 scale it can be seen. The older light gray leans more toward beige, the younger one is cooler. With the dark shade the shift is the other way around: the late mix came out a little darker and less blue.

The combination covers a broad range of subjects from Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters through Junkers Ju 88 bombers to night fighters. On machines from between 1940 and 1942 mixed states were common as well: the instrument panel already dark while the side panels and the canopy frame stayed in the older light tone.

The bottles hold 17 ml and the paint is ready to spray with no further work. The binder dries to a velvety flat film that readily takes a wash and a dry pastel, so drawing out small details in the cockpit needs no intermediate layer of gloss varnish.

The use is wider than the word cockpit suggests. The same shades were applied to the landing gear bays, to the inner faces of covers and to parts of the airframe under removable panels, so one package covers the interior and the landing gear and saves buying individual bottles.