Just what is RLM 02???

I'm no expert but I belive RLM02 changed during the course of the war. I think it started out rather greenish and became more grey as ther years went by.

But lets wait and see what the experts have to say

snapdragonxxx wrote:

Ok, I am officially confused here. I will admit to getting confused over stuff but this takes the biscuit for me. Now I use Vallejo paints and their conversion chart tells me that RLM02 is a green colour. All the models I'm seeing of luftwaffe cockpits look grey to my eyesight. RLM 02 in the Vallejo range is no.886 which is called Green Grey and is a green colour. I have on my bench at the moment Dragon's BF110, Eduards BF109E and Revells' JU88 all in 132 scale. I would love to get my paws on an HE111 in 1/32 as well. Maybe Revell are working on one! Just what colour to I paint the cockpits. Is it this green colour or is it something else! Did cockpit colours change at some point or did the actual paint colour change? Please clear up my confusion before I pull out what's left of my hair!!! Thanks folks James

Swanny has a nice discussion of this on his website:

http://www.swannysmodels.com/Painting.html

Tony

All the discussion of what color goes where is well and good, but I believe the original question dealt more with what is the color, i.e. hue, and not what is the color called for.

I have the same difficulty. RLM 02 is grey-green, gray, green, light grey etc etc.

I hope somebody can clear this up!

From what I have been able to dig up, Luftwaffe cockpits were usually painted in one of two colors, RLM 02, a light to medium green gray similar to field gray, or RLM 66, a dark gray. Later in the war, it seems that RLM 66 became the standard for cockpits. RLM 02 appears more common on early war cockpits of fighters, dive bombers, and similar sized aircraft. Twin engined bombers tended to be RLM 66 more commonly.

Different paint manufactures have interpreted RLM 02 as anywhere from a sandy gray green (Polly S, Aeromaster) to a medium green gray (Humbrol, Model Master) with others somewhere in between.

Take a look at the color chips from these two sites to get more of an idea. The IPMS Stockholm has the "standard" plus two variations.  

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_germany.htm

http://www.jpsmodell.de/dc/main_e.htm

The Don Color was done thru site master's research. As you can see even from well researched stuff, there is some wiggle room to choose from.

Using those, pick what looks good to your eye and run with it. The real research is wether the cockpit is 66 or 02. And that would tend to be dictated by time period.

Here is a comprehensive answer for your delectation.

The title of your post is 'What is RLM 02'. RLM stands for Reichsluftfahrtministerium which is German for "Reich Aviation Ministry'' 02 was just the colour number. As for what the colour looks like, your best bet is to look at the real thing and try to mix your own if you dont want to buy the right colour,

this colour isnt a bad representation of it but the plane is restored and they dont always get it spot on,

the wheel well picture is a much better match for the RLM 02 that i try to represent.

Be carefull with the JU88 though as the 1/32 one from revell was modelled on U4+TK that was salvaged from the depths of a norwegian Fjord in remarkably great condition. The surprise to a lot of modellers was that the cockpit was in great condition and RLM66 not 02 as most people would have thought for an early Luftwaffe plane. Here is a pic of the cockpit from the restoration teams website http://www.ju88.net/,

So, i hope your suitably confused LOL. Luftwaffe subject are great arnt they?

...Guy

It is still used as a primer here in Austra and the wheel wells in Guys post are dead on. As for the pit, a 66 with the mother of all flashes?

                                                     Mac

Yes. the mother of all flashes! I have the Nikon SB800 that I use on both my Nikon D700 and Fuji S5 Pro. That thing is capable of lighting up half the damn planet and leaves me seeing black and purple spots and I'm behind it!

I must admit to not using it much as both the D700 and S5 Pro have excellent auto ISO so I can get quite reasonable shots even in dim light and the colour reproduction in the D700 is out of this world.

After reading members replies I think that I am going to stick to the green-grey RLM02 colour as it seems that most Battle of Britain luftwaffe cockpits were painted in it. the Grey-black of RLM66 can wait for something later in the war!

Thanks guys for all the input. I haven't done a plane for ages and as a break from the 1/16 KTII from Trumpeter it makes for enjoyable building

James