Color: German Four-Color Top Lozenge Camouflage

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There were a lot of different variants of German Lozenge camouflage. Four that are frequently described in Windsock Datafiles for German daytime aircraft are four- and five-color lozenge with top and bottom color schemes. This thread covers the four-color top camouflage colors. Usually these are applied to models using preprinted decals, but some people may paint by hand. This reference also allows you to compare a decal's colors to those from the Datafiles.

The companion article covering bottom colors is at this link.



The usual caveats: As always, there was frequently variation in paint color, weathering, varnishing, etc., so this is just a general guide. Unless you've got a high-end, wide-gamut monitor in perfect calibration (and who does?), do not trust the colors you see on your monitor! Instead, visit your local paint store and see if you can find paint samples like the ones listed below and then match your hobby paints or mixes against those. The goal is just to "get close". See 'Color: why we'll never get it exactly right'.

Entries with an asterisk (*) are excellent matches; entries with question marks (?) have not been formally measured with a color meter and are therefore unconfirmed; hobby paints with tildes (~) are just very rough matches...the best we can do without a custom color mix.

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Dull Blue	German Four-Color Lozenge
Methuen/CIElab/Source	House Paints and Standards	Hobby Paints
56.25,-6.03,-15.3	Australian Std B42 Purple Blue * Beauti-Tone Everlasting Eva C22-3-1528-4 Behr French Court PPU14-4 * Benjamin Moore Nantucket Blue OR-414 British Std 5252 - 20 C 37 Larkspur Blue / Viking * Dulux 90BG 28/213 Waterbury Cottage Glidden Blue Jay 70BG 28/169 NCS1950 S 4020-R90B * Pantone 5425 U PPG American Anthem PPG1156-4 Sherwin-Williams Leisure Blue 6515 ** Valspar Royal Grey 4006-4A *	?? Vallejo Model Color Pastel Blue 70.901 ??

Color matching with 1989 Methuen Handbook of Color and Nix Color sensor

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Deep Turquoise	German Four-Color Lozenge
Methuen/CIElab/Source	House Paints and Standards	Hobby Paints
42.63,-31.07-10.4	~ Behr Mystic Turquoise P450-7 ~ Benjamin Moore Tropical Turquoise 2052-30 Dulux Billow 70GG 16/390 Glidden Seawall 70GG 17/269 * NCS1950 S 4040-B50G PPG Hypnotic Sea PPG1234-7 RAL Effect 710-4 ** RAL Classic 5021 Water Blue * Sherwin-Williams Poseidon 6762 Valspar Stained Glass 5011-7	Reaper MSP Marine Teal 9077
47.57,-29.26,-2.09	Behr Bubble Turquoise PP440-7 Benjamin Moore Green Gables 2041-30 British Std 5252: 16 D 44 - Green * DIN6164: TSD 20-4-4 ** Dulux/Glidden Carved Jade 50GG 18/261 ** Pantone 335U * Pantone 3295 U * PPG Carlisle PPG1141-6 RAL Design 180 50 30 ~ Sherwin-Williams Ionian 6754 ~ Valspar Elegant Silk 5010-7	tbd

Color matching with 1989 Methuen Handbook of Color and Nix Color sensor

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Pea Green	German Four-Color Lozenge
Methuen/CIElab/Source	House Paints and Standards	Hobby Paints
68.24,-14.78,31.7	Beauti-Tone Peter Pan C30-3-0786-4 Behr Mossy Cavern M350-5 Benjamin Moor Pistachio Nut OR-329 DIN6164 TSD 24-4-2 * Dulux/Glidden Precious Jasper 10GY 40/296 Pantone 2303 U * PPG Always Apple 1118-5 Valspar Jalapeno Jelly 6006-6A	tbd
70.26,-7.8,23.15	Beauti-Tone Rediscover C42-3-0408-0 Behr Tarragon Tease PPU9-8 * Benjamin Moore Grasslands CC-590 * Dulux Dalmuir Mews 70YY 37/296 ~ Glidden Spring Bud Green 90YY 43/271 Pantone 5777 U * PPG Sparrow Song PPG11-13 * Sherwin-Williams Ryegrass 6423 * Valspar Gentle Pasture 6003-4A	Reaper MSP Pale Olive 9036

Color matching with 1989 Methuen Handbook of Color and Nix Color sensor

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Dark Blond	German Four-Color Top Lozenge
Methuen/CIElab	House Paints and Standards	Hobby Paints
65.88,-3.07,25.91	See the same colors in "French Light Yellow"
64.13,3.86,25.03	See the same colors in "French Light Yellow"

[matt56]

This is great info, Daryl! I have yet to paint the 4-color lozenge on one of my counters boxes, but it is in the near future...I have a group of Vallejo colors I like for the 5-color lozenge pattern that I would be happy to share once that becomes an entry here, but I have been contemplating the 4-color pattern and will use your suggestions as my starting point.

Always the best,
Matt

[OldGuy59]

When doing up custom cards, I built a template in Illustrator to replicate the model's look. Depending on how well the originator's camera and lighting captured the colors, and then how well my monitor represented it, I can do an exact (yeah, right) match on a custom card.

This was my attempt at an AEG G.IV night bomber camo:


So, any thread that gives me RGB values to which someone has matched paints, means the card will be pretty close!

Awesome guide, Daryl!