I’ve read Hellblau is used for Luftwaffe bombers (including Stuka) throughout the war as well as fighters up to & including 1941-- Lichtblau is the standard afterwards(only for fighters)-- is this correct?
Kind of, depends on the theater of operations. In the ETO, by 1941 most fighter aircraft undersides were being painted RLM 76 Lichtblau. Fighter units operating in North Africa (and a few on the Eastern front) would have the undersides painted in RLM 78 Hellblau.
As with all Luftwaffe aircraft there are exceptions to the rules so try to get a hold of a refererence for the specific aircraft.
-Mike
Don’t forget that RLM 65, very common in bombers’ undersides, is also called Hellblau
Yup, RLM 65 would be the correct choice for early fighters (to BoB) and bombers throughout the war.
ok this makes me ask a question. What about laer like mid war. I have a Tamiya FW190 A3 and I thought it was 74/75/76 for the Camo.
74/75/76 would be “normal” for a 190A-3, but JG 54 flew 190’s with a 70/71 splinter pattern in Russia. The 74/75/76 would have been the standard, but factories were able to accomodae special requests by units for paint schemes and units often repainted aircraft locally to suit their particular needs.
On the Eastern front JG 54 “Grunherz” had many field applied camo patterns not seen on any other Luftwaffe units. They are interesting to model, especially those with the 3 or 4 upper camo colors.
Regards, Rick