Me410 colour question.

[RWG686 40,517]

I intend to build the Airfix kit as 420430 which currently resides at Cosford.

I want to build her as she entered service with I/ZG26, as 3U+AK ,at the end of 1943.

Given that she was stripped and repainted in the sixties and was repainted in the eighties, I'm not convinced that her current clothes are accurate for my time period.

I have a book which suggests the standard delivery scheme of RLM 70/71/74 with a dapple on the fuselage top.

Could somebody explain the number sequence for me please and what colour would the dapple be?

[Paul Brown 9,479]

My own references suggest 74, 75, 76 with mottling in any combination of 02, 70 and 74.

Luftwaffe/RLM colours can be found on IPMS Stockholm

[Jessie_C 13,972]

RLM 70 and 71 are the dark green/black green colours from the early war, most often found on bombers. RLM 74 is dark grey which is usually part of the mid-war grey 75/75/76 scheme.

[Tolvcat 5,096]

Following on from what Jessie said:

Aircraft built as schnellbombers and also possibly recce birds would have worn 70 Dark Green/71 Black Green/65 Light Blue as that was the standard scheme throughout the war. 

Fighters in 1942-44 would have been delivered in splinter camo of 74 Dark Grey-Green/75 Grey Violet/76 Light Blue-Grey to a standard pattern for the type. That may then receive a mottle of 70/71/74/75 at unit level depending on what they had to hand, then unit markings would be applied over that. Note also that depending on the unit's job, the demarcation line for the 76 could move up or down the fuselage sides, and that the undersides, fuselage sides and vertical tail could be oversprayed with black. 

All the pics I've seen of ZG26 aircraft show the standard 74/75/76 with a mottle of 74/75 over the splinter. They were operating as a Reichs defence wing against the USAAC daylight raids so they carried a broad white unit stripe round the rear fuselage but not the theatre markings on the wing tips and rudders that their Bf109s and 110s had earlier in the war.

The splinter came down to a hard demarkation line just below the canopy sills. The mottle covered the vertical tail and the fuselgae sides down to a line level with the rear wing root. No mottling on the engine nacelles.

Hope that gives you a reasonable start.

Andy 

[RWG686 40,517]

Apologies for being a pest but..

Given that profiles are not usually very accurate, is this a fair representation except blue instead of the grey ?

 

This photo is an aircraft from a different Squadron in the wing.

Is that splinter on the wings the two greens 74 and 75 ?

 

[Jessie_C 13,972]

RLM 76 is the pale blue-grey on the lower fuselage and sides. 74 is 'graugruen' (dark) and 75 is 'grauviolet' (lighter) on the upper surfaces. Taken all together, the scheme does look pretty blueish.

[Paul Brown 9,479]

74 and 75 are pretty much a light grey and a dark grey. 70 and 71 are green, there's very little contrast between them which would suggest to me the aircraft in the photo is 74/75/76.

[BlackMike Models 9,906]

There is a lot of doubt if the bomber versions of the 410 actually ever did wear 70/71/65 however the fighters and recce ones all wore the standard 74/75/76 fighter scheme. As I remember it the actually paint job on the one in Cosford isn't too bad colourwise so go with your reference photos.

Duncan B