Captured Allied Aircraft

[Dakotakatz]

I am building a series of aircraft captured by the Germans and painted in Luftwaffe colours. I am using the Leading Edge decal sheet "Zirkus Rosarius" and they say to use RLM74 over RLM04.

Now my problem is that RLM74 is grey and all the research I've done shows the top colour to be more like RIM green. The decal sheet calls for the grey to be used but even their colour plates are a green colour.

Now I have found a formula that mixes 90% RLM74 with 10% RLM71 but this is still more grey then greener looking colour plates.

Has anyone built this colour scheme? And what info did you find to support the colour.

Looking for any help

Rob

[jrallman]

most of the allied planes that I have seen in captured Luftwaffe colors have the RLM04 undersides but are left in their original top color. Which plane are you referring to specifically? Here is one I did a while ago from the old Monogram kit with spares box and home made decals.

[Dakotakatz]

most of the allied planes that I have seen in captured Luftwaffe colors have the RLM04 undersides but are left in their original top color. Which plane are you referring to specifically? Here is one I did a while ago from the old Monogram kit with spares box and home made decals.

I am doing two at the moment, a P 47 T9+FK and a P 51 T9+HK. The P 47 has a top color of dark green which I suspect to be RLM71 and not RLM74 as quoted on the decal sheet instruction(do a search in ARC for CED72114 and you can look at the sheet)

The P51 is natural aluminum over RLM04 with the remains of its 8th AF colors, similar to yours.

If you look at the cover sheet for the decals you will see that the USAAF O/D is different to the color painting out the US markings on YF*U.

So I guess I will paint it the RLM71 and ware the criticism if I'm wrong. Oh Well

Thanks for the post

Rob

[jrallman]

so are you looking for the color used to paint over the US markings? IIRC, and it has been a while, I think I used RLM 71 on mine. Looked right to my eye, and as difficult as it is to determine luft colors on their own documented planes, I imagine it would be even harder to say which was right and which was wrong.

Here are two profiles of the planes you are doing. Perhaps the RLM 74 was the color used to paint over the US markings on the underside of the P-47 wings?

Edited October 2, 2007 by jrallman

[Llarry]

My expectations would be RLM 71 or (unlikely) even RLM 83 (the dark one) for topside coverage of US markings, and RLM 75 or maybe 76 for the underside.

RLM 74 would (IMO) look far too grey to use topside, it really only picks up its "green-ness" in proximity to greys like RLM 75.