{"id":1605072,"date":"2026-03-11T20:22:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/?p=1605072"},"modified":"2026-04-22T12:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T10:03:22","slug":"me-262-and-late-war-rlm-colours-an-attempt-to-bring-order-to-the-subject-70083","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/en\/blog\/2026\/03\/11\/me-262-and-late-war-rlm-colours-an-attempt-to-bring-order-to-the-subject-70083\/","title":{"rendered":"Me 262 and Late-War RLM Colours \u2013 An Attempt to Bring Order to the Subject"},"content":{"rendered":"

Me 262 was developed at a time when the German aviation industry was operating under enormous pressure. Before moving on to the specific aircraft featured in the first edition of the kit, it is worth first putting the subject of late-war RLM colours and the factory painting process of these aircraft into order.<\/p>\n

Late-war RLM colours \u2013 a puzzle with missing pieces?<\/h2>\n

The painting guide for the Me 262 A model uses colour names based on the RLM standard. Developed by the Reich Air Ministry in 1933, this standard covered the range of paint colours used in the aviation industry. It assigned them names and, above all, regulated their use\u2014not only in terms of camouflage pattern composition, but also in defining where a given paint was to be used in the production process.<\/p>\n

The evolution of RLM camouflage colours has long been, and still remains, the subject of extensive research and analysis by aviation historians. Because the surviving archives are incomplete, much of the information published in the past may now be outdated or revised in light of newer research and newly discovered documents. This issue is especially apparent when it comes to the RLM colours used during the final year of the war.<\/p>\n

During the period when the Me 262 was being produced, a number of instructions were issued describing the rules and recommendations for finishing the aircraft\u2019s external surfaces. Over time, and in response to the worsening situation of the German industry, these instructions inevitably moved toward simplification and economy. At the same time, gaps in the documentation have made them increasingly difficult for modern researchers to interpret clearly.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Me 262 WNr. 111711 was the first undamaged, fully operational aircraft of this type to fall into Allied hands. Factory test pilot Hans Fay, while ferrying the new aircraft from the assembly plant at Schw\u00e4bisch-Hall to its delivery point, diverted the Messerschmitt to the American-held Rhein-Main airfield near Frankfurt. The photograph shows the aircraft during testing at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Completely devoid of camouflage paint, it illustrates the condition in which Me 262s left the assembly lines in the final weeks of the war. (U.S. Air Force photo).<\/em><\/p>\n

Colours used on the Me 262<\/h2>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t
The colour samples shown here are approximate and intended only as a general guide. Personally, I recommend AK Interactive\u2019s RC lacquer range, which in my opinion reproduces the real colours quite faithfully.<\/em><\/div><\/div>\n

RLM 81<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>A colour first mentioned in August 1943 as the intended replacement for the earlier RLM 70. At that stage its exact shade was not clearly defined, though it was described as the darker of the two greens in the new pair. It came into use from autumn 1944. Variants encountered range from chocolate brown and olive-brown through dark brown to a dark green sometimes close to Olive Drab. Messerschmitt identified RLM 81 as a brown with a violet tint, or simply as brown. Surviving Bf 109 and Me 262 components painted in this colour seem to confirm that paint suppliers for Messerschmitt\u2019s main factories and subcontractors maintained a brown shade.<\/p>\n

At the same time, several other dark green shades are encountered, provisionally identified as variants of RLM 81. Good paint manufacturers typically offer two or three versions of RLM 81: dark brown, lighter brown, and dark green. The challenge of defining RLM 81 can be compared to the American Olive Drab\u2014one name, but a whole range of shades. An important point to consider when painting a model is to use several slightly different tones of RLM 81 on the same aircraft, reflecting the fact that the real machines were assembled from ready-made components supplied by different subcontractors, each with their own painting and finishing practices.<\/p>\n

RLM 82<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>A light green colour. The brightest of the greens used by the Luftwaffe, often described as a vivid green or fresh grass green. It appeared alongside RLM 81 as the second colour in the pair, and it seems that production of this paint was more standardised, with identified samples indicating a fairly consistent shade used both by Messerschmitt and by Focke-Wulf factories and their licensees. A characteristic feature of RLM 82 appears to be its relatively limited covering power, which means that surfaces painted with it often show traces of contrasting underlying layers, such as filled seams standing out against the colour of natural metal. Model paint manufacturers usually offer a single shade of RLM 82 as a light green.<\/p>\n

RLM 76<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>A light blue colour used for the lower and side surfaces of fighter aircraft and heavier destroyer\/ground-attack types, introduced well before RLM 81 and 82, as early as 1940. It replaced RLM 65, which remained in use until the end of the war on bomber, transport, and training aircraft. Under late-war conditions, the appearance of RLM 76 also changed, and several different shades have been identified on the same aircraft types\u2014from very pale grey through grey-blue to a distinctive yellowish-grey somewhat reminiscent of British Sky.<\/p>\n

Several theories attempt to explain these differences in the appearance of RLM 76. The most common point to technological difficulties in maintaining consistent large-scale production, the use of old stocks including earlier RLM 65 in new paint batches, and experimentation with chemical composition and ingredient ratios. As with RLM 81, model paint manufacturers offer several shades of RLM 76. Trade names vary: sometimes they are labelled RLM 76 with suffixes such as 1, 2, or 3, or divided into \u201cearly\u201d, \u201clate\u201d, and so on. As with RLM 81, it is worth trying to reproduce different tones of RLM 76 on a single aircraft, in keeping with the realities of decentralised production and assembly from ready-made subcomponents.<\/p>\n

RLM 02<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>In the case of this and the next RLM number, we are no longer really talking about a single colour, but rather a paint defined by function. Its colour was secondary; its main purpose was corrosion protection for metal surfaces. Because of its composition, the paint could vary in shade. The most typical RLM 02 associated with the earlier period of the war is grey-green, whereas the RLM 02 that can still be found in original condition in a few less visible corners of the Munich Me 262 has a tone closer to mustard or even green. Interestingly, the use of RLM 02 was reportedly meant to be reduced in favour of RLM 66, which in this period offered similar protective properties.<\/p>\n

RLM 66<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>A dark grey paint, also described as black-grey, with a matt finish. From 1942 onwards its shade changed slightly due to alterations in chemical composition aimed at giving it protective qualities similar to those of RLM 02, and from then on RLM 66 had a noticeable dark greenish cast. This paint was used for cockpit interiors and their equipment. On the Me 262 it can be found on the landing gear legs and wheel hubs, and on post-war Czechoslovak-built S-92 aircraft also on the internal fuselage surfaces and main wheel wells.<\/p>\n

Outdated information, revised interpretations, and popular myths:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • RLM 99<\/strong> \u2013 there was never any officially recognised paint colour by this designation. Some older publications use the term when describing variants of RLM 76, focusing on its unusual yellowish tone. RLM 99 sometimes appears instead as a label for hard-to-classify colours of various protective coatings used on wood\/plywood and fabric.<\/li>\n
  • The concept of \u201cliquid putty\u201d<\/strong> or \u201cpainting with thinned putty\u201d appeared in very old literature on the subject, largely in attempts to explain the unusual appearance of the fuselage sides on Fw 190 and Bf 109 aircraft. The characteristic yellowish, beige, unevenly saturated colour was then explained as the use of substitute materials not intended for painting metal surfaces, assuming that concern for accurately maintaining the prescribed paint colour had been abandoned under wartime conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    In reality, during the period in question, German Fliegerlacke<\/em>, developed by Warnecke und B\u00f6hm, were intended to be applied directly to the outer surfaces of the airframe without primers. The substance used in Me 262 production as both filler and seam-smoothing\/sealing compound appears\u2014judging from surviving wartime colour photographs\u2014to have been grey, similar to shades such as Neutral Gray or Medium Sea Gray.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Modelling literature often states that everything inside a German aircraft\u2019s structure<\/strong> should be painted RLM 02. In reality, the use of this paint on internal components was reduced to an absolute minimum. Modern chemical methods of protecting metal were available, and protective paint was limited to selected components and materials such as steel, wood, or fabric. Under wartime production conditions, long-term durability was no longer the priority; availability and ease of mass production mattered more, and eliminating selected stages of the manufacturing process not only increased output but also made it possible to involve small local subcontractors outside the aviation industry.<\/li>\n
    • During the period when the Me 262 was built, most internal metal surfaces were left unpainted<\/strong>, with the exception of steel and wooden parts that required additional protection. One version of RLM 02 was used, among other places, in the nose wheel bay (steel), on the slats and flaps, engine cowlings, the skinning of the nose section, and a few other areas. The inside of the fuselage and the wing bays, however, were left unpainted.<\/li>\n
    • RLM 83<\/strong> \u2013 what colour was it? For many years, up until the beginning of the 21st century, one of the most distinct shades associated with RLM 81\u2014a dark green\u2014was incorrectly identified as RLM 83. The number 83 appeared in the literature, but was never formally assigned to any specific paint. As a result, historians and modellers, guided by logic and tonal similarity, gave it a likely meaning by equating it with the dark green variant of RLM 81.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Only around 2010 did archival research begin to shed new light on the subject. Notes found in German aviation production documents and paint catalogues suggested that RLM 83 did indeed appear in the catalogue, but as a completely different paint intended for other purposes. Thanks to the rediscovered formula, RLM 83 was reconstructed and turned out to be a dark blue\u2014navy blue\u2014not green.<\/p>\n

      These findings were described in detail by M. Ullmann, who analysed Luftwaffe archival records and military paint catalogues, confirming that this paint was used mainly on aircraft operating over water, which rules it out as part of the standard RLM 81\/82 combination used on land-based aircraft. This discovery makes it possible to correct earlier misinterpretations and reproduce Luftwaffe camouflage from the Second World War with greater historical accuracy.<\/p>\n

      Trzy Messerschmitty \u2013 przegl\u0105d malowa\u0144 zestawu premierowego Me 262 A-1a 1\/72<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n