WWII Luftwaffe Fighter Camouflage | A Complete Guide to German Camo Paints

In this video, we'll take an in-depth look at the camouflage paints & schemes used by the infamous Luftwaffe Day Fighter Units of WWII. From the earliest days of Germany's fighter arm in the 1930s through to the final moments of the Air War in Europe in 1945, we'll explore some of the most-common camo seen on Bf-109s, Fw-190s, Me-262s & beyond during the Second World War.

Whether you're a passionate military aviation history enthusiasts or a scale modeling looking to make sure you've got the perfect RLM paint colors picked out for your next plastic model project… this video is for you!

*Scale Modelers! Check out all of the paints discussed in today's video right here:*

Luftwaffe Paints

*Chapters*
00:00 Intro
00:43 RAL vs RLM?
02:03 Pre-War Camo
02:26 Exceptions
03:11 Early-War Camo
05:36 Tropical Camo
07:16 Yellow Noses?
08:19 Mid-War Camo
10:09 Museum Example 109
12:03 Late-War Camo
14:47 Review/Summary

Shoutout to Verde9, EmmasPlanes & AMMO by Mig for some great, straight-forward reference material!

[SpruesNBrews]

Hello, my friends! 👋

If you're down here in the comments section to ask why a certain symbol is missing from the reference images included in this video… I'll save you some typing 😉

YouTube ads contribute greatly to my ability to produce content like this, and I cannot risk jeopardizing that by receiving a community guidelines violation or other cause for demonetization.

Beyond that… there are enough problems in the world today, and I personally don't want to disseminate "that" particular shape any more than it's already out there. No… I'm not erasing history. If you're watching a nerdy video like this on Luftwaffe paints, you certainly know what's painted on the tail there. Please enjoy this history lesson for what it is: a lecture on paint colors. Cheers!

[down]

I'm a Bf-109 authist first of all, so let's begin:
- that restored Bf-109G-10 was a Bf-109G-10/U4 (antenna mast was added later in Yugoslavia), while Hartmann's aircraft was Erla built G-10 with small bulges on it's wings; chevron was white outline only without green filling; camouflage pattern of RLM 76/75/83
- once LW switched to spine only camouflaged schemes after the Polish campaign, it was RLM 02/71 in probably all examples
- The grey era started to transform into RLM 76/75/83 (dark green) since autumn of 1944 with the introduction of new colors while the G-14, G-14/AS and G-10s were the vast majority of produced airframes, so these are the messy ones in terms of picking the right colors
- RLM 82 was hardly used on 109s, the exceptions are few known Erla- built very late G-10s or overhauled by Erla standard G6/14s
- There are at least 3 shades of RLM 81 and only one is brown; one of them is an olive drab and one is more pure green between RLM 82 and 83
- Some late Erla 109s were painted in RLM 81 (olive) overall with only undersides of wings and stabilisers in RLM 76 + natural metal combination
- there was also yellowish tone RLM 76 aka RLM 84 (this number started circulating after the war) similar to Sky Type S, sprayed late in a war mostly with combination of RLM 81/83, but it was sometimes used with RLM 75/83 and even grey K-4s
When it comes to Messerschmitts, everything was fine and pretty much clear until the autumn of 1944 when new colors were entering the scene while manufacturers still had socks of old paints. Airframes from one production block differed between each other. Having the original photos of aircraft, some time and effort to brose the forums is the only way to at least try recreating the proper look of the chosen subject

[bobrivett]

Very nice Hank, i love these aircraft markings and camouflage videos. Thank you

[tomcox]

Just happened upon this video. I was there the day you were filming and caught a slight cameo of myself at the 11:42 mark. Very informative and well done.

[armoredsaint]

Thanks Hank!….I’m knee deep in my Cologne Tank Duel diorama and you’re getting me all distracted with the Air War stuff!….lol! Very cool Sir!

[michaelnaven]

Your tactical markings video was excellent.👍

[chmarxvid]

Hi, it's a very interesting video that I have just more or less stumbled across. Many thanks Hank!

In my time as an active model builder with many historically relevant documents etc. the book: Official Monogram Painting Guide to German Aircraft: 1935-1945 was the reading of choice for colors, schemes but also rather special things like:

* Omitting paint on the undersides of the wings (there was even an official instruction on this)
* Use of a primer on the undersides (what is often seen as RLM 84) instead of RLM76
* Red/white paintwork on the FW190 of JV44 Jagdschutz

Colors, schemes etc. was and is, in my opinion, a very, very interesting topic, especially from 1943 to 1945.

[paulcharlwood]

Hmmm! quite close but no cigar. The true green era for fighters lasted only until the Polish campaign, after that the Luftwaffe started substituting RLM02 on the upper surfaces usually replacing RLM 70 so that by the France/Low Countries campaign the standard fighter camo was RLM 02, 71, 65 with a high demarcation on the fuselage sides. This was a hard edged splinter camo. Mottling was often field applied as you describe. There is some evidence to suggest that in the later stages of the Battle of Britain, late September 40 on, as the fighting crept up into higher altitudes the Luftwaffe started using greys rather than greens and a lighter shade of undersurface blue. This became the basis for the Grey scheme RLMs 74, 75, 76 which was in use by spring 41, 18 months earlier than you suggest, and became more prevalent as older airframes were retired or units re-equipped. At this time the splinter shape of the camo remained largely the same but used a soft edge and sweeping curves rather than sharp angles. I would refer readers to Luftwaffe Colours 1935 - 1945 by Michael Ullmann published by Hikoki Publications in the UK, 2008. There may be a different publisher in the US by now.

[benmanning]

I love luftwaffe camo from the second world war. My personal favourites are JG54 eastern front camo, FW190 D9 JV44 and FW190 A5 Major Graf designs 👍

[Speedzoz_The_Most_Wanted]

Thank you for making this video, I'm planning on starting model making soon. Your videos are very helpful.

[Pierreprt]

Thank you for your interesting explanations!

[aagoutos]

Exellent Video! Thank you for sharing this You are the best at that kind of subjects!!!

[jerryjeromehawkins]

Hank... I hope you had time to say hello to that magnificent Panther tank that lives at the museum.
We visited roughly two years ago... the 88mm AA display, Stug, etc, etc... everything is just so well done.
Count me as your newest subscriber!!
👍🏾🇺🇸

[neilharrison]

amazing watch, thank you for making and sharing.

[loren]

Good stuff. I’m currently building a StG 2 Snake Stuka, Libya, April 1941. They were painted in the standard European camouflage of RLM 65/70/71 upon first arrival in theater. To quickly adapt, they sourced Italian Giallo Mimetico 3 to apply over the existing 65/70/71. RLM 78/79/80 began arriving mid-1941.

[Chilly_Billy]

I really need to visit this museum and all the surrounding Revolutionary War sites.

[texasnutmegger]

Absolutely first class! This breaks it down perfectly, thank you.

[hawkexo]

What a great video! Thanks. Very informative and interesting

[IanWilliams-fl]

Hi, Mr. Hank, from a rather cold and rainy North of England UK.
Thanks for such an in-depth and fascinating vid my friend and the insignia one was top drawer also. I did have to chuckle to myself, when watching you at the Heritage Museum, how the 109G canopy, functional, but was so exquisitely over engineered as to be an art work.
I look forward to the next instalment. Take care and happy modeling mate....

[adirondacker]

Thank you for the work you've doing. My two sons are avid modelers who put in as much or more time into research before a project as they do the actual build. This quality of content is a great help!

Coincidentally, they are both docents at AHM.