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Colours of U-boat parts
Posted by:
Dougie
()
Date: April 10, 2004 11:42AM
Hello Ed,
Here are some suggestions for the colours of miscellaneous parts of U-boats -
The metal floor of the tower was painted in the same grey as the conning tower and upper hull (the upper, lighter, grey). Later in the war, (not depicted by the Revell VIIC model) the deck casing was covered with a simpler arrangement of deck planks. These deck planks were also fitted to the conning tower floor, and that of the wintergarten behind. They were painted with the black wood preservative that was commonly used on the wooden deck surfaces.
The horizontal surfaces of the spray deflector and the upper half of the fairing in front of the conning tower (which housed the magnetic compass) were sometimes painted black or dark grey for camouflage purposes. Sometimes the upper half of the 88mm barrel was painted black or dark grey. On some occasions the wind deflector was also painted black.
A thin black strip was painted around the base of the conning tower.
The vertical wooden slats on the inside of the conning tower bulwark (which prevented the crewmembers from sticking to the bulwark metal in freezing temperatures) seem to have been left in the natural wood colour, which were presumably given a clear varnish.
As for the UZO – Uberwasserzieloptik (torpedo aimer), the top retractable part was often a very light grey (RAL7038, FS36492), the part above the horizontal compass heading ring was black, and the base was the normal grey.
The DF aerial was black. The small parts at the top and bottom were grey, and the stem was aluminium.
The inside of the hatch was white, with a red circular handle.
The porcelain insulators attached in groups of three to the jumping wires (with grey tension adjusters at either end of each group)were either brown or bottlegreen.
Three sets of depth numerals were marked upon both sides of the hull. These small white numerals were aligned vertically. The top numeral, 9, started roughly at the division between the two greys, and the markings continued down the hull to the bottom numeral, 0. They were situated a few feet aft of the bow, on the saddle tanks and a few feet forrard of the stern, on both sides of the hull.
The GHG (Gruppenhorchgerat – group listening apparatus) - (the series of white dots arranged in a semi-circle above both of the bow plane guards) and the UT (Unterwasser Telegraphie - underwater telegraph)(four larger circles per side) both started out as white.
U-boat propellers were made of bronze. Bronze propellers are bright and shiny when new, but turn darker and lose their shine with age. A slight greenish tint can accumulate in the corners. The propeller shafts were painted in the anti-fouling dark grey.
Cheers,
Dougie
Here are some suggestions for the colours of miscellaneous parts of U-boats -
The metal floor of the tower was painted in the same grey as the conning tower and upper hull (the upper, lighter, grey). Later in the war, (not depicted by the Revell VIIC model) the deck casing was covered with a simpler arrangement of deck planks. These deck planks were also fitted to the conning tower floor, and that of the wintergarten behind. They were painted with the black wood preservative that was commonly used on the wooden deck surfaces.
The horizontal surfaces of the spray deflector and the upper half of the fairing in front of the conning tower (which housed the magnetic compass) were sometimes painted black or dark grey for camouflage purposes. Sometimes the upper half of the 88mm barrel was painted black or dark grey. On some occasions the wind deflector was also painted black.
A thin black strip was painted around the base of the conning tower.
The vertical wooden slats on the inside of the conning tower bulwark (which prevented the crewmembers from sticking to the bulwark metal in freezing temperatures) seem to have been left in the natural wood colour, which were presumably given a clear varnish.
As for the UZO – Uberwasserzieloptik (torpedo aimer), the top retractable part was often a very light grey (RAL7038, FS36492), the part above the horizontal compass heading ring was black, and the base was the normal grey.
The DF aerial was black. The small parts at the top and bottom were grey, and the stem was aluminium.
The inside of the hatch was white, with a red circular handle.
The porcelain insulators attached in groups of three to the jumping wires (with grey tension adjusters at either end of each group)were either brown or bottlegreen.
Three sets of depth numerals were marked upon both sides of the hull. These small white numerals were aligned vertically. The top numeral, 9, started roughly at the division between the two greys, and the markings continued down the hull to the bottom numeral, 0. They were situated a few feet aft of the bow, on the saddle tanks and a few feet forrard of the stern, on both sides of the hull.
The GHG (Gruppenhorchgerat – group listening apparatus) - (the series of white dots arranged in a semi-circle above both of the bow plane guards) and the UT (Unterwasser Telegraphie - underwater telegraph)(four larger circles per side) both started out as white.
U-boat propellers were made of bronze. Bronze propellers are bright and shiny when new, but turn darker and lose their shine with age. A slight greenish tint can accumulate in the corners. The propeller shafts were painted in the anti-fouling dark grey.
Cheers,
Dougie
