Colours used on WW1 German Army Equipment

The question of accurate colours and colour schemes is indeed a classic one withing the modelling community. Especially among WW1 aero modellers, debates have arisen with a tone of voice that will make you think that Life or at least Death is at stake. It is not strange that the debate is ongoing, as the question of truly accurate colours never will reach a final conclusion, except the one that it is impossible to reach a final conclusion. The heat is also generated by the fact that many people try to tell shades of colours from Black-and-White photgraphs, which is really an impossible undertaking, especially since the type of film used at the start of the 20^th century could in itself produce some rather weird and warped effects when it comes to tones. Also: the effects of wind and weather is impossible to tell to any degree of certainty.

The only we can say is that Guns and Vehicles were indeed very much exposed to the elements, and that this of course produced wide variations in hues and colour tones.

This applies to all armies involved. But I don’t think that this means that "anything goes".

When it comes to the question of the colours used by the Imperial German Army in camouflaging their equipment during WW1, many times a sort of analogy has been struck with the German WW2 Camo, leading to recommendations to use the same colours: i.e. sand, midgreen and red-brown, and in some cases dark grey (panzergrau).

The last thing is pure fantasy: the German Imperial Army never used Dark Grey on their equipment. But what about the other colours, the WW2/WW1-analogy? Well, it isn’t as spurious as the panzergrey-idea, but it still is pretty way off.

The base colour used on their equipment by the German Imperial Army was a hue called "Feldgrau". In the beginning of the War, everything from guns to wagons was painted in this colour. And on this all authorities are in full agreement: Feldgrau was THE colour.

But then again: what colour was "Feldgrau"?

One of the few who has really done some research into this, is Udo Lander. (He has produced a paper, that was published in connection to the building of a A7V replica, that was done in Germany during the early 90-ies: "Anstrich und Kennzeichnung der Sturmpanzer A7V".) He did NOT speculate from black-and-white photos: instead he examined a large number of surviving WW1 equipment for traces of colours. And he found that what is called "Feldgrau" is really a WIDE spectrum of colours, ranging from quite Green, to quite Grey. On the table below, I have tried to translate Landers RAL-colours into Humbrol equivalents, but in many cases I have resorted to pure guesswork, and in a few I can’t give an equivalent at all. (Perhaps here someone can help me with colours from other producers?) Thus:

VARIANTS OF "FELDGRAU"

RAL COLOUR	RAL NO.	HUMBROL EQUIVALENT	NOTE
GREEN SHADES
Reseda Green	RAL 6011	31 Matt Slate Grey
Fern Green	RAL 6025	102 Matt Army Green
Moss Green	RAL 6005	30 Matt Dark Green
Olive Green	RAL 6003	116 Matt US Dark Green
Bottle Green	RAL 6007	117 Matt US Light Green
GREY SHADES
Green Grey	RAL 7009	162 Surface Grey	Pure Guess
Brown Grey	RAL 7013	140 Matt Gull Grey	Pure Guess
Umbra Grey	RAL 7022	???	???
Cement Grey	RAL 7033	RLM Grey	Luftwaffe Colour

This means that it is hard to go really wrong on "Feldgrau". I for one tend to use the Humbrol 31 Slate Grey, but I have started to think that a slightly greener colour perhaps would be more fitting. The reason? See these two pictures of surviving WW1 equipment. (But rememeber: we cannot really know what effect the elements have had on these specimens.)

Rainer Strasheim, a world leading specialist on German WW1 armour, has the following to say, apropos the question on what colour that was used on the A7V: "Grey was THE colour of the German Army. But certainly not "Panzergrau" of WW2 vintage, the WW1 German artillery "dark grey" would perhaps best be described as a medium grey, like Humbrol 87, while motor vehicles usually had a still lighter colours, like Humbrol 40 or even Humbrol 28. And even the grey on one piece of equipment from one manufacturer may have changed considerably in tone through time - depending on availability of paints. Also, there were no rigid standards concerning paints when equipment was accepted by the army.

The question remains, what was used on the A7Vs?

The first batch to go out (501, 502, 505, 506, 507) almost certainly had some kind of dark green (humbrol 91 or 86) cover. The Australians found remnants of such a colour in some remote corner of 506, and subsequently "Mephisto" has become more dark green with every layer of paint they applied. (Their former reference had been an eyewitness, describing a colour "like dry grass".)

But subsequent batches look considerably lighter when arriving in Belgium (I know this may be just a false interpretation of b/w pictures) - but there is a fair chance that they (at least two of the three batches) in fact arrived clad in grey. Until being overhauled at the Charleroi workshop they would keep this grey as base colour (crews may have added camouflage). Candidates for a grey hull are: 503, 504, 525, 526, 527, 541, 541, 543, 560, 561. (Some of these may have had even a two tone finish, medium grey and light grey.)

After overhaul at the workshop, however, the base colour would almost certainly be a greenish tint, like Humbrol 80 or 120, which was also used as base colour on the captured Mk.IVs."

OK. So much for Feldgrau. And as Alfred Muther says in "Das Gerät der leichten Artillerie vor, in und nach dem Weltkrieg" from 1925 – still the standard work on German WW1 Field Artillery - pretty soon as the war in the West reached a stalemate, this plain colour was supplemented by others – not over-painted per se.

This was not initiated or regulated from above. What colours to use and in what patterns, was left more or less to the troops themselves ("dessen Ausführung mehr oder weniger dem Geschmack der Truppenteile überlassen war", Muther p. 167.) And this was very much a question of what part of the front the equipment was used. A gun used in Champagne, were the earth was very bright, almost white, was camouflaged with a much lighter colour, yes even white, than a gun used, say, at the Somme, were the ground was much more yellow in hue.

Later in the war – Muther doesn’t specify what this means exactly, but a reasonable guess is 1917 onwards - this whole camouflage business was tested and regulated by the Army. Test were performed, using observers in planes, and they showed that some colours used over the Feldgrau, did not give the intended camouflage effects. They were White, Bright Yellow ("hellgelbe") and Bright Blue ("hellblau") – which I think is conclusive proof that these colours were actually used on the equipment, first and foremost the artillery pieces. (More on this below.)

The colours that in these trials were found to actually be effective as camouflage were Sand, Green and Brown. (Muther, p.168: "die Farben Ocker, Grün und Braun".) And the irregular blotches of colour were often separated by Black lines, "wide as a finger".

Well this narrows it down a bit: Black, Sand, Green and Brown. And that matches perfectly with the colours on this 7.7cm FK 96 n.A to the left here (that can be seen in the Military Museum in Périgeaux in France) and that we know are AUTHENTIC WW1 colours. Look! And here we have these colours: Black, Sand and Dark Green blotches over what must be seen as a Brownish Feldgrau. But it only narrows it downs a bit. Here again Lander comes to our rescue with his research! This is his findings, regarding Colours used on top of Feld Grau. This is, by the way, a good example of German Artillery Dapple Camouflage - click here to find out more!

CAMOUFLAGE COLOURS ("TARNFARBEN") USED ON TOP OF "FELDGRAU"

RAL COLOUR	RAL NO.	HUMBROL EQUIVALENT	NOTE
BROWN SHADES
Brown Grey	RAL 7013	140 Matt Gull Grey	Pure Guess
Nut Brown	RAL 8011	170 Brown Bess
Pale Brown	RAL 8025	29 Matt Dark Earth
Ocher Brown	RAL 8001	62 Matt Leather
Copper Brown	RAL 8004	100 Matt Red Brown
Olive Brown	RAL 8008	155 Matt Olive Drab	Pure Guess
Clay Brown	RAL 8003	70 Matt Brick Red
YELLOW SHADES
Sand Yellow	RAL 1002	63 Matt Sand
Yellow Olive	RAL 6014	83 Matt Ochre	Pure Guess
Pastel Yellow	RAL 1034	250 Matt Desert Sand
RED SHADES
Oxide Red	RAL 3009	107 Matt WW1 Purple

All this makes me wonder: I do not doubt Landers findings: I think he is accurate. But could it be possible that in identifying the different tones of "Feldgrau", the Base Colour, that he incorporated some of the Green Camo Colours ("Tarnfarben") into it? Because in his Camo Colours he doesn’t mention green.

And is there some shades of Sand/Brown/Green that are better than other? Well, I think so. This is a number of German helmets, with the original paint still on, and I think they are important, as they have not – like, say, guns – been exposed to the elements during years, yes even decades.

      

And I think that the shades are remarkably unison. The conclusion from THIS piece of evidence, is that the best Green shade is probably a Rich, Medium Green, the best Brown is best a Dark Nut Brown, and the best Sand a Dark Ochre Sand. And, in addition to Black, we can see yet another colour: a distinctly Red Brown. And have a look at this gun, preserved in the Imperial War Museum in London:

Here we have Black – of course: the familiar separating colour - a distinct Rick Red Brown, plus TWO Greens, one lighter, which I think is the base Feldgrau, and one darker, which I think is the Camo Colour. Again, this leads to the following modified recommendation when it comes to painting German WW1 Army equipment: "Feldgrau" is a Light Green, "Grün" is a Medium Green, "Braun" is either a Dark Nut Brown and/or Brick Red, and "Ocker" is a Dark, Ochre Sand Colour. Two other pieces with authentic WW1 colouring can be seen below: one ammo box, and one sniper shield:

Again we have a sand colour, one red-brown hue, one nut-brown, one green hue and then of course black.

On this photo below (courtesy of Philippe Massin!) you see the best-preserved example of original German WW1 camo that I know of (Then gun can be found in the Army Museum in Brussels.) It is in many way a classic: one dark green, one light sand, one mid brown and one brick red, all separated by thick black lines. 

All this gives rise to the following simple – and simplified – recommendation, when it comes to camo colours on German WW1 artillery equipment (Black separating colour is excluded):

When?	Colour/s used?
1914	Feldgrau
1915-1916	Green, Brown, Yellow, White over Feldgrau
1917-18	Green, Brown, Sand over Feldgrau OR Mid-Green, Mid-Brown, Brick-Red and Sand , separated by black lines.

But what about Blue? Or even pink!!!!

Notice that this does NOT rule out other colour combinations. In a discussion in a WW1 Discussion forum on the Internet, regarding the possibility of blue colour usage, expert Rainer Strasheim stated the following:

"Blue was certainly a colour used only occasionally by the German army [my italics /PK], but I can account at least for one 150 mm gun, which has redbrown bands and blue patches over base Feldgrau (the artillery's dark grey in that case), and a FK 16 clad in Buntfarben where the green has a very distinct bluish tint. Both are original paintjobs, no over-paints.

As for the German tanks, I'm rather confident to know what the B.A.K.P. 20 (the tank yard near Charleroi) used - no blues to be found there.

But:
a) One still can wonder what the crews used for makeshift camo in the field. There's only one eye witness who describes that (not very helpfully): "Every colour of the field grey paint box was used." Which translates best as "Every colour available".

b) Some tanks display a very interesting colour scheme when newly delivered from factory: a light colour on part of the upper body. This scheme did see no action, it was overpainted before. Apparently the crews didn't like it. Most probably made the vehicles catch the eyes of observers from the air. This light colour may have been light grey (my favourite) - or light blue..."

Well, here we have the first examples I have seen of German Army equipment painted with a Blue hue. The FK16 below can be seen in the Australian War Museum. I don't know if the paint is the original one, but I guess that even if the colour scheme is reconstructed, they wouldn't have chosen such an outrageous hue without just cause. So here you have it: Light Blue:

But it doesnt end here! In the AWM they have the Gun Barrel from the German Railway gun "Bruno" taken in 1918 outside Amiens. The barrel has been carefully restored. First all the old graffiti was cleaned off, then they scarped away three layers of newer paint to reach what is by all probability the original WW1 colour and scheme. The scheme matches 100% (see this comparison, made by - WHO? - at the LAndships WW1 Forum. And the colours, well, brace yourselves. They are NOT what you expect. What about Pink and Lime Green?

I think that this is quite sensational. I do trust the Museum Staff. They have done their work well. Most of the colours are the old usual suspects: Dark Nut-Brown, Sand, Black. The Lime Green should be seen as yet another variant of the obiquitous Feldgrau, but what about that PINK!!! But when you think about: check out the helmets above: some of them sport a brown hue that actually has a hint of pink in it!

Who will be the first one to do a German WW1 Artillery piece featuring this garish scheme? And who will be the first to use Light Blue? This is a challenge :-)