Which are the right color for the interior of the sdkfz 251 c?
The steering and radio zone are grey, white or light yellow?
Can you help me?
thanks

Lorenz;

Hi!

Maybe you have a wide range of choices...

Bob Oehler's "Modelling the Sd.Kfz. 251 Halftrack" (Osprey Publishing) is a great guide, IMO, to this subject - in his book, Mr. Oehler takes the approach of painting the driver's compartment the same color as the rear area - either dunkelgrau or dunkelgelb - the base colors for the exterior. Of note, he did a 251 - C as one of his examples in this book.

Other builders and various pubs have taken a different approach where the driver's compartment was painted in that off-white or light ivory color (elfenbein) used in panzer interiors, and the rear compartment done up in the exterior base color. A sort of "split" interior scheme. IF you Google the Sd.Kfz. 251 on the web, you'll see some museum specimens and some restored vehicles showing this latter "split" scheme, and you'll find various builds with the different approaches.

You may also have further choices because it appears that some folks say the driver floor area could have been painted dark olive green, left in the "rot-oxide" red primer color, painted the elfenbein, or maybe painted some other colors!

Hope this helps!

Bob

See this thread for some info...

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/109072

Rob

Hi Bob and Rob
Thanks for your help.
I paint dunkelgrau in and out my 251.
i think that in 1941, this colour configuration may be the right choice.
Then i paint black the upholstery of the front and back seats.
I didn't found original color pictures with this information.
I hope this is right.
Are you agree with it?

Lorenzo:

For a 1941 vehicle, dunkelgrau would be right. I do hope you are going to consider that split coloration "option" with the driver's compartment done in elfenbein... it would look really drammatic. Of course that jury is out and about as to whether it should or should not be so...

I think that leather seat upholstery would better be in dark brown. Leastwise, that's the apparent convention that many builders have chosen (it looks good in contrast to other colors in the vehicle, and seems likely reasonable historical accuracy) - but that's just my opinion!

Bob

ok Bob, i change the upholstery colour from Black to dark brown, but i ask you:
which is the right colour for other softskin's upholstery?
i think to Blitz, Protze, Horch, Steyr, Kubel...
i see painted the upholsery of these vehicle in every colour

i wait for your opinion

Lorenzo;

Remembering that Mine is JUST my opinion... no expert knowledge!

The question may actually be more around WHAT TYPE of upholstery did the vehicle have... IF leather (pretty common, I THINK, in WWII German vehicles), original "tanning and finishing" colors could range from mid-brown out to black. I THINK some may have also been "painted" some green color. Painted leather seats certainly have been common and maybe more-so post WWII (I have an Ex-Swiss 1975 military truck with leather seats painted a solid olive-like green... if that's anything to go by! And West German Bundeswehr vehicle seats ca 1975 had that "fieldgray" color very similar to the Bundeswehr uniforms of that time, as I recollect). **Of course, WWII seats were likely mostly real leather, whereas post-war seats have often been made with artificial leather. And later-war German seats may well have had some version of cardboard seats!

And then there is wear... these cushions were out in the rain, sun, mud, etc. So, my thoughts are to wear them out a bit (meaning to wear off the surface staining- ) which I think would expose some of the leather beneath the finish. And get them plenty soiled-up! War and life in the field are dirty affairs.

Do NOT, I caution, use any modern leather car seats as your lead! These have lead a likely cushy and pampered life safe from the elements and getting waxed, and no dirty bums grinding around on them!

MY approach to these German leather seats (in a Horch, a Krupp Protze, couple of VW, a few panzers with interiors, so far) has been to go with a middle-to-darker brown with some olive-green wash and some umber washes, to depict some soiling and wear, followed by appropriate dusting with pigments for the vehicle circumstances.

Sheet-metal seats and seat-backs were also used, and certes later British and US and other types sported canvas or fabric over metal frames. So we modelers need to know what type of seat and "cushion" it is we're trying to make!

That's my opine and approach!

Bob