One of six shades of "Dunkelgelb"

 For years I have been under the belief that there just weren't anymore than about a half dozen colors of paint ever used on World War 2 German AFVs and Soft Skins.  We grew up with the knowledge that everything early war (1939 - 42) was Panzer Grau.

In the early 80's I saw some color illustrations of a Pre-War Panzer I in a three color gray / green / brown scheme - that nearly blew my mind!  The rule of thumb was: Grey until Feb. 43 except for Afrika Korps, which could be everything from Grey to Grey with Desert Brown overlay to Desert Brown to Dunkelgelb with Pea Green overlay to Grunbraun (RAL 8000) 

In February 1943 onward all AFVs leaving the factory would receive a base coat of Dunkelgelb (RAL 7028) - this where it begins to get complicated.  There were two additional shades of RAL 7028, RAL 7028a and RAL 7028b,  Apparently all three shade were used consecutively until the end of the war.

As if three shades of dark yellow weren't confusing enough, enter "Dunkelgelb nach Muster" - also in three official shades: RAL 1011, RAL 1011a and RAL 1011b.  These were also factory applied as a base coat from 43 - 45.

So if you thought that you knew it all about Factory Base Coats .... As I did, we were all wrong!  That's what I love about this hobby, after nearly 50 years of modeling I still learn something new every day!

For more about German Vehicle and Luftwaffe paint colors and schemes please visit the "Tips" page HERE >
http://www.razorboyminiatures.com/tips.php