Germany RLM 70 and RLM 71

[JMSmith]

heres mine,

RLM70, RLM71,

44R 65R
50G 68G
40B 52B


let battle commence

by the way, ALWAYS USE A WHITE BACKGROUND.

[Clint Mitchell]

I will have a go at the RLM 70/71 swatch in a bit John (when I get on my MAC) would be an interesting test bed.

The reason why I think this is a worthwhile undertaking: If we can all agree on some standard swatches that for the majority of us work especially the members with a solid knowledge and experience of how these colours should look. Then for new members and also myself it's an excellent starting point. My problem is that I do not have a very good monitor. It's a 17 inch Dell which I bought second hand and for the life of me I cannot get the gradient bar at the bottom of this page to look the way it should thus meaning that any colours I create on the monitor are going to be wrong and for all members that do not have an Eizo or an Apple display or a professionally calibrated monitor, your in the same boat as me anyway? Now until I save up and buy either an Eizo, or Apple Cinema display I cannot really trust my monitor so it would be good to have a set of RGB value's for paint colours that I CAN trust to create my profiles. I would then not take any notice about what colours my monitor is showing because I know that as long as I'm running and saving my work with the same colour/RGB workspace profile as the guy that prints the profiles they will be as spot on to those RGB value's listed in these swatches as humanly possible.

I know not all aircraft that were painted in exactly the same paints stayed the same for very long. Depending on so many factors the paints changed from one aircraft to the next over time. For me personally it doesn't matter if I am creating a brand new factory fresh aircraft or whether I'm creating a heavily faded mediterranean theatre washed out old rust bucket the layer containing the paint colours does not change from one to the next (RLM70/71 for instance). All weathering and fading is achieved by the subsequent layers and their settings above the paint colour layers anyway? The colours do not need to change to compensate for this?

I think this will be a good exercise for all. Where else have we got such a wealth of competent and experienced enthusiasts to discuss this matter than here?

Cheers

Clint

[gamary]

I agree that we are not going to get definitive colours - we shouldn't even try because that is nonsense. I think that as long as we can agree on sets (or multiple sets) that seem acceptable, it would be a good start.

I also agree with Clint when he says weathering is better achieved by adding extra weathering layers. (I do get lazy and modify the base paint layer quite often though ).

As for John's 70/71 swatch, it looks good to me. Would the Luftwaffe addicts mind posting some pictures of aircraft painted with these colours? Come on, guys: we know you're lurking and we know you have the correct pictures. Don't force me to give names.

The ideal would be new or fairly new aircraft. This could help us IMHO.

[gamary]

I agree that we are not going to get definitive colours - we shouldn't even try because that is nonsense. I think that as long as we can agree on sets (or multiple sets) that seem acceptable, it would be a good start.

I also agree with Clint when he says weathering is better achieved by adding extra weathering layers. (I do get lazy and modify the base paint layer quite often though ).

As for John's 70/71 swatch, it looks good to me. Would the Luftwaffe addicts mind posting some pictures of aircraft painted with these colours? Come on, guys: we know you're lurking and we know you have the correct pictures. Don't force me to give names.

The ideal would be new or fairly new aircraft. This could help us IMHO.

[Clint Mitchell]

My pop:
RLM70: 37, 41, 35
RLM71: 45, 47, 37

But I'm open to offers due to my lack of concrete trust in my monitor.

[Clint Mitchell]

For Gamary and all, here is a nice article written by Dave Wadman on Bf109E camouflage: The 109 Lair Also some colour pictures from the same site showing some elements of 70/71: Here.

Edit: OK you can't direct link to section of the site so the first link is in: Articles-Camouflage-Bf109E 1939-40.

And the second link is in: Articles-In Colour-Western Front.

Clint

[Clint Mitchell]

Just some nice colour photos that I have found of RLM70/71:




Just as reference really. Skins tones look not too bad if not slightly reddish (could be just cold ears in Helsinki)?
Also what is interesting is the ultra glossy markings against the very low silk/matte looking splinter scheme. As for RLM 65 very grey looking but a nice blue sky?

[RAF_Loke]

What I find interesting is that you in pic 1 and 2 can see how much the markings and codes shine.