I have been doing research for some different late war German camo schemes, and came across an interesting bit on the Achtung Panzer website. This is the quoted text and the link to the website.

"In the springof 1945, new scheme was to be introduced with dark (panzer) grey (RAL 7021) as the base colour with red brown (alsoknown as dark chocolate brown) (RAL 8017) and dark olive green (RAL 6003). It is unknown if it was ever implementeddue to the overall state of the German Army."

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/panzer-colors-1934-1945.htm

I have been referencing numerous resources, to include the 1945 German Colors book by AK Interactive, and none of them seem to reference this type of scheme. Can anyone confirm or deny whether this was to be an actual camo scheme?

Heard of? Yes. Seen any evidence of an official order or actual use? No.

Most of what I've seen or heard about this has been circular discussions of something posted or read online which, after tracking the source down, turns out to be speculation based on someone's interpretation of a photo or comment.

Here's a fairly rational discussion about late war German factory camouflage that's based on actual published German orders and painting instructions:

Armorama::Late War German Camouflage

This is certainly not the definitive discussion, but it does cover a lot of the known basics. There's certainly a lot of unknowns still. However, in the final analysis, we may never know the full story since much of the official record has simply been lost.

Also, you have to understand that painting orders to factories created a situation where each firm had to do the best they could with the resources they had on hand. The state of what was available time and paint-wise at each location determined what rolled out the assembly plant door, and event this changed over time at the various facilities.

For instance, there is, IMO, a very credible ongoing argument that some of the factory camouflage schemes applied to very late war Hetzers incorporated some amount of white paint into them. Probably because of the snowy conditions existing on most of the Eastern and Western Fronts during the winter of '44-'45. However, AFAIK, no written orders have been discovered to do this, just some interpretations of a small handful of wartime B&W and color photos.

So, the debates continue.

Still, I've never heard or seen any credible evidence of the return of Panzer Gray at the very end of the war. However, "substitute" paint colors used in the absence of anything else available can't be totally dismissed (however much it might actually be based on "wishful thinking).

Finally note that this is a separate and unrelated issue to the generally accepted evidence that the gun manufacturers used a heat-resistant gray protective primer on the main gun barrels delivered and installed on German tanks and SPG's.

Here's another pretty good discussion about that particular subject:

Armorama::German Tank Barrel Color

HTH,

I remember years ago reading that the Germans reverted back to panzer grey during the final weeks/months of the war. I can't remember where I read it though? I do believe it may have been Panzer Colors? I also seem to remember a model of the Jagdtiger painted in panzer grey. I believe that was in Military Modeler when it was still around. I think it's a intriguing paint scheme! Whether or not it was used, who knows? It would look cool on a late war panzer though!!

That was early speculation because photos revealed that the base color in the final months of the war was not Dark Yellow, at least for most factories. Much more information has been unearthed in the thirty-odd years since Panzer Colors was written.

The Autumn, 1944 orders allowed red primer as the base color with the others applied in bands and spots over it. Panzer expert Thomas Jentz read that as meaning that primer was allowed to show as part of the scheme, while others argued that it just meant that the primer was not completely overpainted with any one color, that the cammo was applied like a "paint by numbers" kit.

In December, 1944, the orders were changed again, so that Olive Green was the new base color, and the Red Brown and Dark Yellow were to be applied in hard edged bands (though factories were given until March, 1945 to comply). Dark Gray was authorized instead of Dark Yellow only if the latter was unavailable. Dark Gray was ordered to be conserved (presumably it was in short supply). Note that Dark Yellow was a secondary color in this scheme, so the gray would have been, too. That said, there's no evidence of the gray option ever having been used. It had been discontinued as a cammo color nearly two years earlier, and most factories wouldn't have had any reason to have large stocks on hand. The "ambush scheme" spots were also sometimes seen with this scheme, if time and paint supplies allowed.