Bv 155 underside color?

[Lucien Harpress]

Pretty simple question, actually- does ANYONE have any clue what the underside colors of the Bv 155 is supposed to be? I've heard unpainted metal, RLM 76, or some combination of both. Black and white photos are, of course, not much help. Does anyone have any definitive information on this?

[boney_king]

The underside should be the usual RLM 76, at least the only book- Monogram Close Up series 20 - says so :)

[Chuck1945]

I would agree with that suggestion (Farbton 76). The only photo I have of the Bv 155V-1 prototype shows it as camouflaged. Its first flight was September 1944, this was, I think, before unpainted portions of undersides began appearing as production expediants. The V-2 also looks to be camouflaged, although the only picture I have is the cowl, and the unfinished V-3 looks un-painted. (Photos in Green's Warplanes of the Third Reich)

[Stona]

Ullmann reproduces some documents about the standard finish for the Bv155 on page 277 of his tome.

Salient points from a document of 9/44 which came from "The Travemunde Command Unit"

"The Bv155 will receive the colours 81 and 82 on the upper side"

"the fuselage sides,rudder, wings and tailplane leading edges will be painted in shade 76 and then lightly overpainted in shades 81 and 82 except for the wings and tailplane leading edges"

So initially at least the lower surfaces were in RLM76,however.

"A further simplification may be expected which will be announced to us shortly.The camouflage paint on the underside will then be omitted on the production type constructed for regular service use."

"The dividing lines between the camouflage and bare metal are marked by dotted lines on the enclosed area diagram"

Sadly we don't have that diagram. The document goes on to give details on the use of a stopper,if used it was to be "aviation stopper 7270.99" and

"must be applied to the bare metal being rubbed down beyond the paint-bare metal dividing line"

It concludes.

"The paint on the underside will be omitted for economy reasons"

The initial communication with Focke-Wulf indicating the approval of the plan to discontinue underside camouflage and start a large scale test using 50 of their airframes dates from 30/6/44,somewhat earlier.

There you go,like most things Luftwaffe it's as clear as mud!

Cheers

Steve

Edited February 19, 2011 by Stona

[Lucien Harpress]

Thanks for the info.

Scouring what few photos I can find, there SEEMS to be paint on the underside. Of course, the photos aren't that great. I'm tempted to just pick and choose a few panels on the underside and leave them bare metal, just to break up the surface.

Of course, then you get photos like this, where the undersides of the wings appear to be.... black?

That being said, this IS a different airframe (V3, V2, or V1 with V2 parts, depending who you ask) that (probably/maybe) never flew, that's been sitting in storage for 50+ years. Who knows?

[Stona]

If I was modelling a prototype I'd paint the undersurface in RLM 76,wrap it around the leading edge of the tailplane and wings and overspray a wavy demarcation of the upper surface along those edges. I agree that in the available images of the prototypes the underside is painted.

If I was doing a production version,admittedly a bit of a "what if" or "Luft '46",I would leave the underside in bare metal. Going by what Focke-Wulf did I'd still paint the sides and fin in RLM76. You could certainly paint the lower surfaces of the control surfaces in RLM 76 to add a bit of variety. Whatever you do noone can say you're wrong!

Cheers

Steve