Luftwaffe Winter Camo

Welcome to the Forum. Winter camo was applied both ways. At least some FW-190's were actually painted white in the factory before shipping to the Eastern front.

Ah I see...so a JU 88 zerstorer of 1942 I'm guessing would not have the factory application...

Definitely not factory applied on a 1942 JU 88. But the field applied could vary considerably. Best to search for a reference of the AC you want to represent.

A lot of times, it varied. On these pages, you'll find pics of aircraft with winter camo. Some have had their markings masked or repainted. A lot of it probably depended on the individual crews, tasked with applying the camo. Its up to ypu whether you want to apply the markings on top of the camo. I usually scan the decals and print it out. I then use this as a template for masks, that I apply over the base camo colors. I then spray the white, remove the masks, glosscoat, and decal.

http://www.luftwaffepics.com/

Hope this helps.

Cdonovan - Welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll find it to be very friendly and helpful.

Regarding your Ju88, which group's markings are you intending to use? There are many reference sources on the web, and maybe we can help you locate some.

Here's a pic describing exactly what Pix was saying.

Pix was an enormous help to me, and if not for him, I wouldn't have repainted the original camo in the decal areas. After the decals were applied I blended the white back in a little closer. I think it looks much more realistic this way, but as others have said, these aircraft were painted in many different methods and environments, so check out all the references you can. All of the profile layouts that I had showed the markings as applied after the white.This is the same model as in my sig pic (below), which can be enlarged by clicking on it.

Pix has has posted shots of his methods also in the past.
I don't have the link right at hand. If I find it I'll post it, or maybe Pix will provide it for you.


Be sure to post some pics of your progress. There are quite a few Luftwaffe fans here.

stinger

To the best of my knowledge, planes were delivered in factory camo, and repainted in the field for winter. Markings were masked off, and the temorary white distemper paint sparyed on by a couple of guys crawling all over the airplane with a couple of handheld spray guns. Hence the finishes varied widely.

If you want a weathering challenge, the paint faded and chipped and got dirtier throughout the winter, and looked like crap by the time spring came around and they washed it off.

It's not Ju88s, but this book:
http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=SBC0336
has a lot of very good ref photos of fighters on the Russian front with temp white paint jobs. Some even had the stenciling masked before overspraying.

John P - Thanks for the link on that book. I just ordered it. Can't wait to see the pics you described.

stinger

Heres a good one. I know its not a Ju-88....