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WWII German AFV Colours

1. Vehicles commissioned in 1939 were painted in the following manner. The base colour dominated the camo pattern by 66%, with soft contours between colours.

2. Schwartzgrau thus replaced the earlier two-colour pattern in 1940, in order to save paint. AFV's in Op. Barbarossa (Kursk) in 1943 are documented in Schwartzgrau with Dunkelgelb patches, typically in the recommended domination of schwarzgrau's percentile of 66%. I.e.~ 2-1

3. Schwartzgrau vehicles deployed to the African front were repainted in a new base colour with disruptive patches. The base colour dominated the camo pattern by 66%, with soft contours between the colours.

4. A new pattern for Africa was introduced in March of 1942. Available paint and camouflage paste of the earlier pattern was to be used up, resulting in a mixture of patterns in the interim period. Note: This African theatre camouflage was also used in Crete / Greece and possibly in the Balkan region.

5. As of February 1943, vehicles were supplied in the Dunkelgelb factory base coat, only to be painted with camouflage patterns according to regional and seasonal requirements. As a result, a great variety of two and three colour patterns were in existence, even serving alongside each other in the same unit. Operational vehicles painted Schwartzgrau were not to be repainted in the new base colour. Instead, camouflage paste was to be used to create two- and three-colour patterns.
 

6. As from August 1944 the ambush pattern was designed to hide vehicles under foliage, certainly a consideration in light of allied air superiority following the D-Day Normandy landings. This pattern was factory applied, using standard designs.

7. A simplified process of applying the three colour disruptive pattern, using the dark red primer as the base colour and adding disruptive patterns of Olivgrün and Dunkelgelb at the factory. Schwartzgrau may have been used as an alternative to Dunkelgelb on occasion.