Minimoa colour scheme

[RobbieB]

Ian, here is the full article that the second extract was taken from - it might be of interest to you.

Full acknowledgment must go to the late Chris Wills and the VGC.

glider_markings.pdf

(735.38 KiB) Downloaded 175 times

[VinceC]

Strangely enough, this information has been on our website for over 15 years

https://scalesoaring.co.uk/colours-and- ... s-1922-45/

[IJNoble]

Hi Mick,
My Minimoa is the single seat Go3 version. I always like to do unique and unusual colour schemes if possible. I was going to do the one below but someone had beaten me to the punch. Thanks to Robbie and Vince, this Minimoa is from the Nuremburg region although strangely the registration is from Stuttgart

[Paul_Williams]

Just returned from holiday and spotted this thread.
I was a very junior contributor to the original VGC article on German Glider markingsa scary number of years ago and also have a broader interest in Luftwaffe types.

As far as I know, there are no original paint samples from German gliders of the era when the fuselages were colour painted to identify the region.
I don't think that anyone has ever established that the colours were the same as any of the RLM colours and indeed the NSFK colours from 1937 were different to the Luftwaffe colours, at least until 1940/41 (ish).

The early regional colours were changed between 1935 and 1936 and its not known whether the paint was entirely removed or simply overpainted.
Overpainting one colour with another will also significantly change its apparent shade.

Be warned that when looking at online paint charts, there are significant differences between computer monitors that render this type of reference almost useless . Different print runs of the most respected book on Luftwaffe colours show radical differences between the shade of the paint chips - its a nightmare. Its also known that there were noticeable differences between batches of paint. No easy answers I'm afraid.

A bit beyond your actual question but I mentioned to Cliff that as regards markings rather than colours - the original VGC article was based largely on
documents and in those days few photos were available for study. Its now apparent that there were a very significant number of exceptions to the specified font and size of numeric markings i.e. D-10-125. So its always best to model a glider that you actually have a photograph of.
Note that even in the NSFK era, some glider flew without registrations and some only had a registration on their rudders -some on fuselage and rudder. In fact I have photos of gliders with different registrations on their fuselage and rudder ! This was probably the result of crunching the rudder when packing the hangar and using a replacement from a wreck !
Paul

[RobbieB]

Which reminds me of an amusing situation from way back in the hedy days of scale glider static judging.

The colour of our models were, of course, being judged against the output of a photo processing lab and not necessarily (and in most cases, almost certainly) the actual colour of the original.

In the case of my Gull 3, it was of particular amusement to me when I got continually marked down on colour, the model actually having been sprayed with paint from the same tins that Mike Beach, the owner and restorer of the original full size Gull very kindly gave me! If only we'd have had Photoshop in those days.............

[Paul_Williams]

That's a tough ruling Robbie, I share your pain !

Our models are of course relatively large scale. However, it is accepted that for smaller scales like model railways, using the original paint 'looks wrong' and should really be compared to the real thing when viewed from a distance that gives the illusion of similar size. The effect is to soften and reduce the brilliance of the colours. This is particularly evident when looking at the garish colours of WW1 lozenge camouflage which from a distance merge to give a soft effect.

Incidentally, it looks as though the original NSFK 'ivory/cream' colour known as FAS1 was later replaced by an RLM shade but so close as not to be apparent when viewing one glider in isolation. Some years ago I was sent a digital copy of a German magazine which (if I remember correctly) had an article on different coloured flying helmets of glider pilots ! This contain half a dozen very high quality colour photos in the 1936-45 period and where there were two or more gliders in the image, a definite difference in the ivory/cream could be seen. Unfortunately my computer managed to lose the file and I do not know which magazine it came from - can anyone help please ???
Paul

[VinceC]

It is almost impossible to compare colours from that period due to
a) the type of film being used
b) the processing
c) digitising for computer display
d) you own computer screen set up

I have quite a number of photos from that period in colour, but I could not be brave enough to tell what the Exact colours are. Examples attached

[VinceC]

The other problem was gliders were painted for the region they first served, but when moved to a different region, they commonly kept their original paint scheme and only the registration was changed. See the Grunau Baby with D-10 register, which should be in Black and White scheme

[Paul_Williams]

I completely agree with Vince's comments about period colour film and monitors
However I'm going to slightly disagree about the colours of the D-10- Grunau Baby in the post.

The 'regional' colours and 'named registrations' such as D- Munchen, were superseded on 17 April 1937 by all over ivory FAS.1 and numeric registrations such as D-10-125. So the Grunau in Vince's post is actually correctly painted.

From 17 April ALL gliders SHOULD have been repainted in FAS.1 but its clear that some simply had the name removed and the numeric registration added, whilst retaining their regional colours. We don't know how common this was but I think that none of the sailplanes at the 1937 Rhon carried regional colours (please correct me if I'm wrong !) It's not clear how long these unauthorised regional colours remained in use after April 1937, possibly only to their next C of A or major overhaul. Of course its possible that in some areas they continued to paint regional colours onto FAS.1 sailplanes but as so few glider photos can be dated, tat has not been established.

Its interesting to note that I have never seen any photos where the original name can be seen under the FAS.1 paint.

The regional colours were applied to sailplanes capable of cross country flights but not usually to the primary gliders which made up the vast majority of the German fleet before 1937. High performance mass produced types such as the Minimoa and Rhonadler only began appearing in 1935 in quite modest numbers.

Vince's photos also reveal another interesting detail - compare the Swastika on the Grunau Baby and Minimoa with the very spindly version on the SG38.
As more photos become available we are able to see that the previous assumption that glider markings were very standardised and controlled, is not the case and there are as many variations as one sees with Luftwaffe powered aircraft.
Paul

[VinceC]

This is turning into a Nerds Corner
What about these GB with a Swastika, but no red markings dated 1940, any thoughts as to why?