The color chart calls for Field Grey (Feld Grau(1)). I had some Tamiya XF-65 Field Grey, and tried it, and man oh man is it green! I found a post somewhere in which someone said they used Tamiya XF-22 for a WWII German Field Grey, and of course when I look for RLM colors, there is no Tamiya recommendation.
I am not concerned about having the most “accurate” color, but would like to be in the ballpark. I understand Field Grey is a little like Olive Drab, especially in service, it could be many different shades.
What do you use for Feld Grau? I have a small selection of Tamiya colors to choose from, and could mix something up, but of course would prefer to use a color right out of the bottle [:)]
The Tamiya Field Grey is pretty spot on, Field Grey is green. XF 22 is also a greenish colour and is often used for RLM 02. But i also useing it for Reed Green, a colour used for German SP crew uniforms. But i am not to sure about useing either colour of German armour. I am guessing your build is early war, in which case it should be Pz Grey, for which you can use Tamiya XF 63.
RLM colours are used for the German airforce, for the Army its RAL.
As noted above, German Field Grey is not an RLM number, rather an RAL number. Somewhere I have a reference which gives the RAL colors in addition to the RLM colors (I’ll see if I can find it). And IIRC correctly the field grey is a darker grey than the RL02 and lighter than the Panzer Grey used on early war vehicles.
Dragon painting instructions usually provide paint references for Gunze paints, so while the name Field Grey 1 is not necessarily an accurate description, the paint number which I’m guessing is H32 is a dark grey colour which should be about right to what you are looking for. Different paint companies use different names for their colours, so field grey, olive drab, khaki etc can vary quite a bit from one paint company to another. You are better off looking up the numbers that are provided to see what the colours look like rather than going off colour names.
Many thanks for the replies, and the clarification between RLM and RAL.
Just my luck, among the dozen or so colors I have, there is no XF-63. I do have XF-20, medium gray, so I will work with that and add a little black. It’s either that or put it off until I can get to the local hobby shop. All he has is mini bottles, but I think (hope) he has a decent selection of colors.
This is a bit to dark for scale effect, you might want to lighten it.
Maybe Tamiya XF-57 Buff, you will need that when weathering / dusting off the kit anyway.
I would not use Tamiya XF-2 white to lighten since it is…white.
RLM = Reichsluftfahrtsministerium (in typical German way that is actually 3 words, Reichs=Imperial, Luftfahrt=Aviation, Ministerium=Department/Ministry)
RAL = Reichs-Ausschuß für Lieferbedingungen und Gütesicherung (German Institute for Quality Assurance)
This is a good piece of advice. You would automatically assume that to lighten something, you can use white. I know i used to think that. I then did it to some OD and it looked grey.
There is some suggestion that Field Grey may have been used late in the war when other colours where in short supply. But certainly not on an early war tank.
DEFINITELY. Tamiya’s “Field Grey” is mislabeled–it should be labelled “Panzer Dark Green” as it’s a perfect choice for that “missing” color in their line. Somebody screwed up on that one. [clwn]
