AK Luftwaffe Camouflages 2

AK Interactive of  Spain has produced a second set of Luftwaffe colors. This set continues where the other one left off by providing maritime shade, desert shades and late war shades. I have brush painted a few of these and airbrushed some of the previous colors. I was quite pleased with how they worked. The brush painted shades dried within minutes and when a piece of Tamiya tape was placed atop the fresh paint, it did not pull any of it up. I had the same experience when airbrushing their paint. I used isopropyl alcohol to thin it as at the time, I did not have any of AK's thinners, which I think should work better.

Now on to the colors. From the right to the left we have the two maritime shades of RLM 72 and RLM 73, as well as the desert shades of RLM 78 light blue, RLM 79 tan and RLM 80 green. Lastly we have late war shades. RLM 81 is a brownish shade while RLM 82 is a light green. Now for a somewhat controversial color. For years we had used RLM 83 as a dark green. A researcher has come across some correspondence that identifies RLM 83 as being a dark blue. I have read what has been posted and no where does it state that the color was actually in use as the posts only talk about recommending it be utilized. Naturally, once a new shade is discussed, up pop all sorts of photos of relics that claim it has this new color on it. Regardless of how you feel about it, this set has included this color. Interestingly, on the box artwork, the new blue covers a sticker that has the old dark green, so this is a very new addition.

For those wondering where this new color is to be used, supposedly it is to be found on Ju-88s and Bf-110s and even BV-138s from the mid/late 1943 period until the end of the war. There are even reports of it being used on the Me-262. So what of what we thought was RLM 83, complete with extant paint chips? According to the main researcher, this was just a variant of RLM 81. Despite how you might feel about the subject, we now have a ready mixed RLM 83 dark blue. These paints can be thinned with either of AK Interactive's two thinners.

August 2014

Thanks to www.ak-interactive.com for supplying the review item. Visit their web site for more information and to buy your set.