OK here we go........
First one should mention that the Luftwaffe asos operated gliders, apparently attached to some units but this does not seem to be well understood.
I don't know what markings were originally specified but from 1939 Luftwaffe gliders were also ivory (Elphenbein) and marked for Whermacht Luft with the regions designated in roman numerals and the glider number in aribic numerals i.e. WL-IV-45.
On 25 June 1943 an entirely new registration system was introduced such as the LD + SA in your photo
The gliders were still ivory but the red fin band and white disc was discontinued (although I suspect the red band was abandoned shortly after the outbreak of war by both the Luftwaffe and NSFK)
This new registration system has some ambiguities. Photos suggest that NSFK gliders used a dash - between the letters and Luftwaffe gliders a cross +
Around this time many NSFK gliders were moved into Luftwaffe control as a shortage of fuel began to make the use of glider training using the two seat Go.4 Goeviers and DFS Kranichs for basic pilot training.
Later in the war, gliders were to be camouflaged to minimise the dangers of attack from Mustangs roaming across Germany. There doesn't appear to be any standardisation - some had a sprayed mottle finish, some a wandering wave pattern, some had short streaks where rags had been dipped in paint and a few had solid patches of colour with gaps between them. The paint seems to have been whatever was locally available in the various RLM green and grey shades, often using two or more colours. Application was to cover the bright ivory of course. In many cases it only covered the top surfaces and fuselage top decking but in other cases it extended entirely down the fuselage sides.
The big difficulty in Luftwaffe/NSFK research, is that more than 80% of original documentation was destroyed so only some of the marking instructions are known. The rest is pieced together from photographic evidence, although as noted, photos are rarely dated.
What I can say is that after the German surrender, one could see gliders with D-10-125, occasional red fin bands, WL-IV-45, LD+SA, LA-AC
which shouldn't have been possible if all the regulations had been followed !!!!! The reality is that the Germans did NOT faithfully and promptly follow the appropriate regulations, there were as many exceptions as there were compliance.
To further muddy the waters, a colour photo which I am not permitted to reproduce, shows that t least two Luftwaffe sailplanes from 1938 were painted grey but there might have been unique - unless someone has other colour photos to show otherwise. Monochrome photos of those two gliders look as if they were ivory and I would have bet my house on that - it shows how difficult photo interpretation can be.
Hopefully this is of some use to the half dozen other nerds / scale police/ accuracy enthusiasts who like to get things right !
Meanwhile does anyone have any photos of the 13m Habicht in camouflage ???? (rather than Stummel Habicht)
Paul
