Scharnhorst - Colours

[jainso31]

Scribbles 1941
Perhaps this multi link can shed some light on the Scharnhorst colour scheme problem-fingers crossed.:o;)

jainso31
http://www.scharnhorst-class.dk/general_information/latestsiteupdates.html

[Scribbles1941]

Thanks for that Jim, we already have that site, but it still begs the question about the colour. Although looking grey some maintain they were shades of blue.....however.....even if they were blue, distance would tend to make them 'appear' grey, so to give an 'apparent' view, it may be more accurate to do them grey, even if they were actually a 'blue'.:)

[jainso31]

Alan have made a thorough trawl of the internet to find this information ie the various nouances of shades ,etc.I noted many other organisations who were all wanting information re the same subject-COLOUR:confused:.but here's some other peoples take on this subject. Would this query not be better answered in the modellers section???

jainso31
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=178898

[Hank]

Jainso, for Germany the color match was far less important than protecting against corrosion, the primary reason for applying paint. Given that the German paint industry became the private realm of Hermann Goering in 1935 great variance in colors became the norm, the more production shifts available, the more money Reichsfuhrer Goering made. Check out the Luftwaffe paint shops in Budweis for a story of a technicolor financial fiasco. Germany's lack of native materials for the effort made the required changes an engineering tour-de-force. Paint specifications for German Naval Vessels began standarization in 1896.

See if you might find Allegemeinen Baubstimmungen (Building Regulation Order) Nr.31, this set of regulations (Paint) were changed periodically over the war years, this due to the above explanation. Photos of the Scharnhorst appear to be of Hellgrau 50 with darker superstructure, this a standard, as mentioned above, Blue-Gray coloration. I can't comment on any dazzle variance. Germany went from using two top coats to just one after October, 1944, by regulation. Regards

[jainso31]

My thanks to you hank for your erudite exposition on the whole business of colour schemes in Germany in WW2.
Alan appears to be looking for something not quite in keeping with your take on the subject;but it would be churlish of me to discount what you say

jinso31.

[Grosser Kreuzer]

Dear All,

The first post on this thread appears to be missing. For what it is worth here is my fourpennyworth.

A Polish gentleman is known to have written the first volume in an English work on the camouflage schemes of German warships in WW2. I have it at home. If Scibbles is interested I will dig it out and post the details of it.

However, it does not give details of the paint pattern numbers and from what I know few other German authorities do either and that includes the oft quoted work of whom Dieter Junge was one of the co-authors (again, I don't have the exact details here but can obtain them if interested.

One quick reference website that might provide a RAL (German abbreviation for something similar to the British Standards) number is that belonging to Manfred Zinecker (German but with an English language facility)but as Hank implied in his post: finding the exact shade of colour used is likely to prove very difficult if not impossible. The same thing also applies to those for the Royal Navy.

Best Wishes,

GK