Winter camo on Lutwaffe - any pointers

[ao]

Hello all,

Would anyone have any pointers to web sites which deal with techniqes for applying winter camo washes to aircraft, particularly for a more 'weathered' look? I've checked on ARC, did a search on google etc, but most technicques seem to apply to armour.

Thanks!

[Paul Senter]

In my experience there isn't much difference between the luftwaffe and armour winter cam scheme as in a lot of cases the same principles were used. Most winter cam was applied in the field using some sort of white paint. It would have been liberally applied using mops, brushes and whatever was to hand. The ground crew however would have ensured that the aircraft markings were free from the white paint. If you can get a copy of a book called Aufklarer (sorry dont have the ISBN number but most libraries have it) there is a very useful photo of a Henschel HS 126 (luftwaffe recce aircraft) on the Russian front with a field applied winter camouflage. The airframe is essentially overpainted in white with squares of original colour left so that the unit markings can be seen.

When modelling this scheme it is best to complete the model in its normal camouflage scheme and then get a slightly thinned white and brush paint it on. There is no need to mask the areas to be left as in real life these would have been done free hand.

If you want to show wear and tear then remove some of the white from certain areas so that the original scheme shows through. Very much trial and error.

Hope this helps - sorry I dont have the picture electronically.

Paul

[ratch]

I don't claim any expertise in this field, but this is an Italeri 1/72 Stuka I tried it on (my first attempt)


I airbrushed the temperate camouflage normally, applied the decals, then airbrushed the 'whitewash' without masking

[The Hooded Claw]

There exist a whole sequence of photgraphs taken on the Eastern Front during the winter months of Winter White Camo being applied at unit level by a Stuka Gruppe. These show a member of ground crew (I recall they were called BlackMen after their unifirm colour) applying the White paint through a spray onto a standard camo'd airframe.

H

[Paul Senter]

Came across this link which is useful:

ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2000/06/stuff_eng_tech_winter_camo.htm

and this

modelingmadness.com/others/features/cleaverwintercamo2.htm

Seems there are as many schemes as there are aircraft! I would suggest you look specifically for the aircraft you are modelling and identify a scheme that matches it.

Paul

[rd49]

one other tip for weathering once the white has been applied- using a cotton bud soaked in white spirt then wiped almost dry, just lightly drag over the area to be treated in the direction of airflow,this will faerther the white back to the base camoflarge.its best if the model is decalled and varnished before trying this. i would suggest practice on an old kit or spare part

[ao]

Hi all,

Thanks for the pointers there (sorry for not replaying sooner). Good looking Stuka there. The cotton bud idea seems spot-on.

By the way, I found this.... check out this guy's winterwash!

the-72world.web.infoseek.co.jp/page159.html