I'm building Italeri's 1/72 JU88 A17 of KG26 1942. I have deduced the 2 tone green is most likely RLM70/71 but is the underside RLM65 or would they have moed onto RLM75 by then?

thanks
Mike

Hey Mike, I think you meant underside color of RLM 76. To the best of my knowledge 76 wasn't used as a general underside color on German bombers. I would stick with RLM 65. If you are doing a Med version try RLM 78. Hope this helps. Russell

RLM 65 was most likely what would be used with a 70/71 topside

Yes i meant RLm 76 - the writing has faded on the paint! Thanks guys - I thought it would most likely be 65. I've just found out the upper surface 'squiggles' were RLM 76 so I best get on with it!

thanks
Mike

Hi Mike,
just to throw a spanner into the works, sorry You mention squiggles over the camo on the the upper surfaces, which indicates the "mirrorwave"(?) scheme, and thus a Maritime aircraft. If this was a maritime aircraft then it may have worn the Maritime uppersurface colours of RLM72/RLM73. There isn't a lot of difference in it but it is noticeable. I can't get at my references to confirm that an "A17" model Ju88 was used by KG26 in this role.

Yes RLM65 is correct with RLM70/71 which Luftwaffe bombers wore throughout the war, only fighters had their camo changed.There are, of course the odd exception

Ah! I've just read that post - too late now but I would be interested to hear more. I'm just going off the instructions, which sadly don't give the RLM numbers. It's the instructions that say it's from KG26 but I don't believe everything instructions say.

thanks
Mike

Do you mean this kind of scheme? I came accross a few of these whilst boning up on the Ju88 for my BOB version.





I can't identify the units since one doesn't seem to carry the relevant markings (the "markings" that are there look a bit suspicious!) and I'd need a book which is at home for the other! I do however think that this kind of thing appeared on aircraft of all sorts of units. I'll check in a few days when I get home, currently in Paris with Nige (Lampie) and can't access anything that's not on the old hard drive.
Cheers
Steve

Can I just make it perfectly clear at this point that myself and Steve are actually working in Paris and we are NOT on a romantic city break for two.
You know how easily rumours start!
Nige

And Elvis just started one of his big romantic numbers!
Steve

Shall we dance?

Too late guys the rumour had already started

Mike

Just to throw a little more mud into the crystal clear waters .

I recognise Steve's 2 photos and they both appear in my copy of Ju 88 in action Part 1.

The first is captioned:
"Ground crews push a bomb dolly toward a WELLENMUSTER (wave pattern) camouflaged Ju 88A-4 on an Italian airfield during late 1943. The wellenmuster camouflage was used primarily for operations over water from mid-war onward."

The second caption is:
"Crew members prepare to board their Ju 88A-6/U through the open under fuselage hatch. The upper FuG 200 radar antenna masts are in place although the aerials have not been fitted. A recent conversion, this A-6/U still retains the factory fuselage code (PN+MT) used for test and delivery flights. The upper surfaces are camouflaged with an RLM Gray (02) or Light Blue (76) wave pattern over the Dark Green with Black undersurfaces."

There is a second photo of that aircraft and it definitely shows a black underside with the lighter squiggles stopping at the underside colour. Although the caption talks of Dark Green - this second photo also show clearly that there are 2 tones to the upper camouflage - which I would assume to be 70/71.

With regards to the A-17 variant it says that " KG 26, KG 28, KG 76 KG 77 and K.Gr. 506 are known to have operated both variants in the anti-shipping role", at p. 42. It is referring to the A-4/Torp and the A-17 variants here.

There is 1 photo on p. 43 of A-17s of KG 26 lined up at Bardufoss, Norway. The interesting thing in that photo is that there appears to be a dark upper surface and light under surface - maybe 70/71 over 65. The angle of the photo is such that it is impossible to tell if there is a wellenmuster pattern on the upper surface, however there is definitely a dark squiggle pattern over the lighter under surface.

Hopefully that casts a bit of light on things for you.

Brian

Hi
Yep it looks like that kinda thing. I'm not too well up on markings and what squadron which plane is from, so can only go off what the instructions say until someone says otherwise. I'm just building a few chaper kits to amuse myself and practice for more expensive kits like my Hasegawa JU88A4 and HE111H but I'd still like them painted in the right colours if poss!

thanks
Mike

It makes sense that that pattern was used primarily over water,it seems to appear commonly in the mediterranean theatre. I do think you could safely apply it over the standard 70/71 scheme. Only specialised maritime units would have carried the alternative (72/73) scheme.
Just to muddy the waters further Merrick identifies the first photo as being an aircraft of KG 77. He reckons that the "suspicious" markings have been sprayed black for night operations. He also refers to the squiggles as "arabesken" a pattern I would associate with night fighters!
Anyway a squiggle is a squiggle.
Final mud in the puddle. Did KG 26 fly Ju88s in 1942?
What fun we have with the Luftwaffe!
Cheers
Steve

It all sometimes makes me wonder if its possible to make a model accurate or not! I guess a lot of records were either destroyed or simply not created in the first place. I've gone with the original thought of 70/71 with 65 underneath and i'm hoping it's right - squiggles will be appearing soon!

thanks
Mike

Mike I'd have done the same thing.I'm sure it will look just fine. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that we're just making models,hopefully for a bit of fun and (believe it or not) relaxation.
Hope it goes well.
Cheers
Steve

Very true but it's nice to be right if possible! I take my model ships far more seriously with things like etch details etc (in 1/700) and my plane kits are just for fun - kinda like when I was building them as a kid but now not making a complete mess of them!
I build purely oob (cept for a few minor conversions and aftermarket markings), so I just love it when I get to make a well engineered, nicely detailed kit with good instructions that I don't have to really think about.

thanks
Mike