WWII LUFTWAFFE EARLY WAR COLORS

The splinter pattern over Poland, France and the Channel

The splinter camouflage made up of two dark greens on the upper surfaces and a light blue on the underside defined the look of German machines from September 1939 to roughly the turn of 1940 and 1941. It was worn by Heinkel He 111 bombers, by Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers and by the early versions of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters, that is by the machines that are still among the most built subjects of this period.

Why the shades changed during the war

The dark pattern came about with fighting over the Central European landscape and over the sea in mind. As soon as the focus of operations moved elsewhere and fighter units began flying at greater altitudes, the finish proved needlessly conspicuous and gradually gave way to lighter gray-blue tones. Anyone building a machine from the first two years of the war needs exactly this older, markedly darker form.

Application

The shades are made for an airbrush and are thinned with water or the matching thinner. The surest route runs through a light base, onto which the blue underside is laid, and only then is it masked and the upper pattern added. On the real aircraft the boundaries between the fields were mostly hard, because they were sprayed through templates, so a soft feathered transition looks out of place here.

Contents and what to add

The package contains the paints themselves, not masking material or varnish. To finish, count on a gloss base under the decals and a matte coat at the end that pulls the whole job together. Leave the exhaust stains and the grime on the underside of the fuselage until the very end, so that they are not disturbed by further work.