Bismarck greys?

[Ian B]

What are the proper colours for the Bismarck greys? 

 

 Also I assume the Atlantic camouflage strips are black and white and not something subtly different?

 

Any suggestions welcome along with recommendations of paint brands--- I will be air brushing where possible (a brand new thing for me)

[Craigie65]

Try Sovereign Hobbies colour coats. Link Here

 

they are enamel but I have found they spray well if properly thinned.  They also have colour guides for most of the well known ships

 

White Ensign also has a description of the colours Here

Edited May 5, 2023 by Craigie65

[hof00]

Hi Ian,

I used Vallejo Light Grey 71.050 and Sea Grey71.049 (I don't know if they are 100% historically correct)

Baltic Stripes are Black and White.

 

One person who could most definitively answer is @Joe100

 

I guess you could have a test "Off-Ship" with a selection first.

"Scale Effect" probably needs to be factored in?

 

Are you going the "Full Monty" Baltic Stripes?

 

Cheers....HOF.

 

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by hof00

[DocRob]

On Scalemates you can download the Tamiya manual, which gives usually a good idea for the colors from their recommendable system.

 

German Battleship Bismarck, Tamiya 78013 (2005) (scalemates.com) There is a section for downloadable (.pdf) instructions.

 

Cheers Rob

[AJohnson]

4 hours ago, Craigie65 said:

Try Sovereign Hobbies colour coats. Link Here

 

they are enamel but I have found they spray well if properly thinned.  They also have colour guides for most of the well known ships

 

White Ensign also has a description of the colours Here

I'll second that for Sovereign Hobbies "Colour Coats" Enamels.  They are very good and Sovereign Hobbies do have several good video tutorials on using their paints.  I know some people are put off enamels for the fumes/spray, but if used as suggested the odour/aerosol spray is minimal.

 

A great range and well researched colour matching.

[Joe100]

Do you need the RAL numers? (Reichs Ausschuß für Lieferbedingungen und Gütesicherung)

 

Bismarck used a variation of Scheme 9 which was introduced in May 1910. 
 

the light grey is RAL 7001

the medium grey is RAL 7000

and the dark grey is RAL 7024

 

for these colors, and the rest, I’d recommend the ScaleColors Kriegsmarine set. It’s the closest I’ve found to the originals, especially the anti-fouling mix the KM used. Don’t forget that the boot strip on km ships was GREY, and NOT black. I see this error all the time. The stripe itself is more of an anthracite grey or German grey. Very dark, but definitely not black. If you need more info, or if this wasn’t what you’re looking for, let me know. 

 

The Baltic camouflage scheme was found to be incredibly dangerous and it was abandoned completely by December 1941. The white stripes made excellent aiming points for Soviet submariners. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ian B]

Thanks I'll look into it 😃

[AlanDavison]

You may be interested in a Seaforth publication called ‘German Naval Camouflage’ published in two volumes, volume one looks at the period 1939-1941 and includes detailed colour schemes for Bismarck. Volume two covers the period 1942-1945.

The books are an excellent reference and study of German warship colours and camouflage and are well worth reading.

Incidentally, in response to Joe100’s comment about grey boot strips, according to the Seacraft authors, Bismarcks boot topping was actually black at the time of its sinking (see p9 of vol 1)

[Ian B]

Lots to think on..thank you all for taking time to reply.  I will do the boot line dark grey...

[Joe100]

15 hours ago, AlanDavison said:

You may be interested in a Seaforth publication called ‘German Naval Camouflage’ published in two volumes, volume one looks at the period 1939-1941 and includes detailed colour schemes for Bismarck. Volume two covers the period 1942-1945.

The books are an excellent reference and study of German warship colours and camouflage and are well worth reading.

Incidentally, in response to Joe100’s comment about grey boot strips, according to the Seacraft authors, Bismarcks boot topping was actually black at the time of its sinking (see p9 of vol 1)

The boot topping was indeed grey, a very dark grey, but grey nonetheless. Specifically, RAL 7016 Schiffsbodenfarb Ill. 
 

In some of the higher-resolution photos you can see the demarcation of the boot topping like and the black Baltic stripes. 

 

Boot topping paint was a harder-wearing paint than the rest of the ship’s hull, and in most cases even thicker than the hull antifouling paint since it had to take the scouring action of the waves. The KM paints, especially in the early part of the war, were very much standardized, so there wouldn’t be mich of a variation. The Germans were using grey for boot topping stripes as far back as 1910 when the Tropical schemes were dropped in favor of Scheme 9. Bismarck was painted in 3 distinct camouflage schemes prior to Rhine Exercise. The first was overall Scheme 9, then in October 1940 an experimental scheme was applied for a few weeks. Only a few photos of this scheme exist, it’s never modeled. After this she was painted back to Scheme 9, and then into the Baltic scheme. The Baltic scheme remained mostly the same but we know the turret roof colors were changed almost constantly. This was done for testing purposes and in some photos you can even see the few workers busily repainting them. Sometime after her final fit in either March or April 1941, she was again painted back to Scheme 9 before the Baltic stripes were reapplied for Rhine Exercise. This was probably for experimental purposes. 

[Joe100]

By the way, this is the experimental scheme from the fall of 1940. Only half of her heavy AA weapons have been fit, since the three-axis stabilized mounts weren’t ready yet, no rangefinders, etc. not her best look in my opinion. 
 

You can always tell Bismarck from Tirpitz by their funnel caps. Bismarck used an aluminized funnel cap for heat dissipation, and Tirpitz used a black funnel cap with heat resistant paint.