Evening all, I've been getting ready to build the Zvezda/Revell R-12 with sidecar as a DAK version and was wondering about the interior color on the sidecar. I know most of the vehicles were shipped over in grey and painted over, but I just wondered if they would have left the inside grey or were they a lighter color? Thanks for listening. Wayne

Looking at the design of the sidecar, one would have to dismantle the whole tub assembly to do a proper paint job. Inside painting would have let you take out the seat. Imagine the time and effort it takes to do it like this.
I think they masked the seat or maybe removed it and sprayed what could be reached, without too much hassle.

In many cases, such as with most of the sdkf 250 and 251 types, various open-top afv, cars and trucks, stuff shipped to Africa in dunkelgrau remained dunkelgrau inside. While photo evidence (interior shots) are actually fairly scarce, some suggest this was the case for early DAK stuff.

It takes time and materials - both in limited supply for the Germans in Africa - to do the time-consuming and really unnecessary work to repaint these things inside. The outside counted for camo and recognition purposes. Inside color probably important not for either.

From the modeler perspective, I would argue that it could make for some more interest in the paint scheme to have the color contrast in versus out. And things may depend in part on exactly when you are modeling the subject to represent... In 1941, stuff arrived gray and got repainted by units in Africa. From fairly early in 1942, equipment was being completely repainted and fully-prepped for "tropic use" in depots in Italy before shipping to Africa. So an early-campaign build might more reasonably be gray inside, while a later piece of equipment would be more "factory-like completely repainted in and out".

Choices and opportunities!

Cheers! Bob

Thanks for the replies guys. That was what I was thinking also, but just wanted to be sure. Have a great weekend. Wayne

It takes about five seconds to remove the seat from my Ural.
In looking at it, I have to imagine it would be more work not getting paint on the inside. It's far easier to swipe at the tub with a sprayer than to deliberately mask everything off. In real life you're not looking to paint behind the seat in the storage compartment, or on the underside surface of the top of the tub. I think it's far more likely to be a "spray what you can see" approach. Quick, and probably not always 100% complete.

Clearly, the opportunities for individualism in painting things are near "legion"!

Here's where real-world experience may lend a hand in envisioning one's 1/35-scale repaint job...

Back 50 years or so, when but an over-eager teenager with his first old Jeep "field car" project, I and a couple friends grabbed the illegal beer, the compressor and spray-gun, and some cheap paint (we actually used well-thinned old-style oil-based enamel wall paint!) and went out and attacked that open-top CJ to "camo" it... It was a hot Chicago summer afternoon. We, all being "brainiacs", felt for little bit of breeze and figured we should spray down-wind... Not having any masks. And we assembled the gun and filled it and took a first pass.

We didn't mask much - the inside of the windshield got some taped-on paper, as did the dashboard where the speedo was. The outside of the windshield got some taped-on paper. as did the headlamps and tail lights. The rest of it was, well, open for business. Seats stayed in, even it turned out so did a tool-box left in the back. The garbage...

It was a pretty complete external repaint after all was done - a somewhat thin and patchy base-coat, and 2 other colors for the mix. We were not intending on nor interested in painting the interior at all - the masking was done due to being "brainiacs" and mildly concerned about maybe "over-spray"...

None of us knew much about airgun painting. But, in the end, the point was we got it done, and actually very little paint ever got inside that Jeep. The seat sides got variably over-sprayed, as did bits of the dash and papered windshield inside. But over-all, only a light dusting of excess paint. We even painted the rims, and most of the paint actually stayed on the rim and not the tires...

The opportunities for depicting a wartime vehicle repaint are indeed endless and full of possible "detail" and interpretation of what it was like for the driver - maybe expert at riding his moto, maybe NOT expert at airbrushing motos in the 1:1 scale... Maybe in a rush, maybe relaxed, maybe beered-up, maybe stone-cold focused and a perfectionist. Maybe cared a lot. Maybe a slob. Maybe happy with his task, maybe resenting that Feldwebel...

So, imagine scenarios, guess what was being done and why, and envision how the job went and how it came out - and MODEL AWAY! I think your "repainted moto" is a wide-open "oyster" waiting for you to attack and devour it to your heart's content!

Bob