Heer Vehicle Colors (1922-1945)

Heer Vehicle Colors (1922-1945)

Bibliography
Panzer Tracts
Panzer Interior Colors
Achtung Panzer!
Jens Popp - JPS Modell

Exterior Colors
Dates	Base Coat	Color 1	Color 2	Color 3	Notes:
1927 to 7 November 1938	RAL 840 B2 Nr 3 Feldgrau-matt #171b0c	RAL 840 B2 Nr 17 Erdgelb-matt #695137	RAL 840 B2 Nr 18 Braun-matt #5f3330	RAL 840 B2 Nr 28 Grün-matt #0a2b18	Each color is applied in equal surface area; no two tanks are to be painted alike.
7 November 1938 to 31 July 1940	RAL 840 B2 Nr 46 Dunkelgrau #181a19	RAL 840 B2 Nr 45 Dunkelbraun #2d3122	N/A	N/A	Dunkelgrau over 2/3rds of surface, Dunkelbraun over the remaining 1/3rds
31 July 1940 to February 1943 (Regular Paint)	RAL 840 B2 Nr 46 Dunkelgrau #181a19	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 1941 (North Africa)	RAL 8000 Grünbraun #78592d	RAL 7008 Khakhigrau #554f35	N/A	N/A	RAL 8000 to color 3/4ths of vehicle, RAL 7008 to be applied in splotches.
March 1942 (North Africa)	RAL 8020 Sandgelb #cfa984	RAL 7021 Schwartzgrau #181a19	N/A	N/A	RAL 8020 to color 3/4ths of vehicle, RAL 7021 to be applied in splotches.
February 1943	RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb I #645e46	N/A	N/A	N/A	New “Basic Camouflage”
“Ambush” Scheme	RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb I #645e46	RAL 6003 Oliv-Grün #4c4e29	RAL 8017 Rotbraun (Schokoladenbraun) #2e1a19	N/A	Yellow, light grey, or white spots were painted onto green/brown areas, while green spots were applied on dark yellow areas.
October 31 1944	RAL 8012 Rotbraun #4a2220	RAL 7028/1 Dunkelgelb II #6c602e	RAL 8017 Rotbraun (Schokoladenbraun) #2e1a19
November 31, 1944	RAL 6003 Oliv-Grün #4c4e29	RAL 7028/1 Dunkelgelb II #6c602e	RAL 8017 Rotbraun (Schokoladenbraun) #2e1a19
Spring 1945	RAL 7028/1 Dunkelgelb II #6c602e	RAL 8017 Rotbraun (Schokoladenbraun) #2e1a19	RAL 6003 Oliv-Grün #4c4e29		Not known if this scheme was implemented widely due to large shortages of paint at this time.

Colors Authorized for Field Expedient Camouflage on top of Dunkelgelb I in February 1943. (you can see this in the various “Octopus” Schemes)
RAL 6003 Oliv-Grün #4c4e29	RAL 8017 Rotbraun (Schokoladenbraun) #2e1a19	RAL 8002 Signalbraun #5c3a2e

Interior Colors
Dates	Engine Compartment	Upper Interior	Lower Interior	Notes:
Early War until 1942	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	RAL 1001 Elfenbein #efeae4	RAL 7033 (Closest Match) #6e7870	Interior of Hatches open to exterior were painted in the base exterior color, and due to less weathering, were brighter and shinier than the exterior paint. Engines were generally black.
Late 1942	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	RAL 1001 Elfenbein #efeae4	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	Interior of Hatches open to exterior were painted in the base exterior color, and due to less weathering, were brighter and shinier than the exterior paint. Engines were generally black.
September 1944	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	Interior of Hatches open to exterior were painted in the base exterior color, and due to less weathering, were brighter and shinier than the exterior paint. Engines were generally black.
Late 1944	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	RAL 1001 Elfenbein #efeae4	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	Interior of Hatches open to exterior were painted in the base exterior color, and due to less weathering, were brighter and shinier than the exterior paint. Engines were generally black.
1945ish	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	RAL 7028/1 Dunkelgelb II #6c602e	RAL 8012 Rotbraun Primer #4a2220	Many late-war interiors were finished in the same color as the base coat due to paint shortages in the factories.

Innenanstriche deutscher Panzer, 1937 - 1945

“The boundary between the Ivory und the Other Colour (red or grey-green) was somewhat arbitrary. Examples that I have observed are as follows:

Turrets were all Ivory inside with turret floors in the Other Colour, grey-green or red.

Legs supporting the turret floor were typically painted in both colours, with a cut-off line carefully painted exactly at the level of the inside turret rim. This is called "lack of imagination".

PzKfwg III und IV were painted Ivory on side und rear walls right down to the floor, with the floor, ammo bins und transmission unit in the Other Colour; also the Other Colour on the lower side walls right at the front. The dividing line in the PzKfwg III und StuG III was a convenient slanting strut beside the driver, in the PzKfwg IV it was an imaginary vertical line just inches forward of where the drum brakes cut the hull.

Inside the Tiger, the bottom of the sponsons was used as the boundary, und an imaginary waterline ran across the back wall at this level, dividing Ivory from the Other Colour.”