Home » How-To » How-To Article Archive » Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) Luftwaffe colors

How-To Article Archive

Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) Luftwaffe colors

Compiled by Mark Hembree

When I built a Bf 109 for the July FineScale Modeler, it didn’t take long to run into RLM colors, the World War II German standards for aircraft. From the schwarzgrau of the cockpit (RLM 66, a deep charcoal) to the RLM grau in the wheel wells, there are color standards for almost everything on the plane.

However, there are more than a few items on the RLM list that spawn debate. Sources can differ on what the actual list is, what those colors really were, even what the numbers of certain colors were. Wartime photos are mostly black and white, and color photos can be deceptive. After having worked at FSM for a few years, I had seen many examples and read lots of discussions of Luftwaffe color schemes – but I remember seeing the Me 262 at the Smithsonian’s Air & Space museum and being surprised by its vivid shades of green. (I’ve no doubt it was accurate – those folks know a thing or two about the real deal.)

So, the RLM list provided here is a compilation of several subjective opinions from a variety of sources – some definitive, others not so much, but all with an eye toward what you can get when you go shopping to paint your next flugzeug. For many years we have leaned heavily on The Official Monogram Painting Guide to German Aircraft 1935-1945 (Merrick and Hitchcock, Monogram Aviation, ISBN 978-0-914144-29-8), and that is the source I chose for the RLM names and numbers. We’ve also provided other sources for you to consider in making your own judgments – after all, it’s your model.

I hope you’ll find the list and cross references useful. We’ll continue to review and refine this table, and we invite your comments and, yes, corrections. I’m sure we’ll still have to make a few!

If you are having trouble downloading the file below, save the file to your desktop and then open it through Adobe Reader by going to "Open" in the "File" drop-down menu.

Downloadable File(s)

PDF (153 kB)

PDF documents require Adobe Reader.

Related Issues

July 2010

User Comments

Only registered members of FineScale.com are allowed to comment on this article. Registration is FREE and only takes a couple minutes.

Register Today!

Great information & service to the FSM nation. One thing - I wanted to use Mark's form/info as a basis for all my RLM info but can't figure a way to edit or add to the information downloaded. The form/info seems to only be readable by my Adobe Reader 9, if I copy it directly to Word the info is all compressed to the left margin, and although there appears to be no Security Method, I suppose the Document Restrictions setting must prevent editing. Anyone with any ideas?

Submitted: 8/1/2010 6:15:27 PM (CST)

Great list, thanks very much. But as a regular user of Xtracolor Enamels i have noticed two things that need updateing. In the Xtraclolr line, RLM 82 is now X226, not X211 and RLM 83 is now X226 not X212. After what Wolfgang Henrich says, this may have been down to them originally following the monogram guide.

Submitted: 7/16/2010 9:11:38 AM (CST)

For those that are having trouble, have you tried, instead of downloading the chart, saving the file to your desktop and then opening it through Adobe Reader by going to "Open" in the "File" drop-down menu, instead of just clicking on the link and opening it?

If you have tried this and it is still not working, let us know.
-Megan, FSM

Submitted: 7/15/2010 9:51:22 AM (CST)

I agree with Steve - having problems with link. I'm using Firefox on a Mac. The link points to a ".ashx" file and not a ".pdf"

Submitted: 7/14/2010 9:53:00 PM (CST)

This is a great list although I have my own made up fron the IPMS Stockholm site and a few others with not only numbers, but with color chips to go along with it. The computer it was on had a catostrophic hard drive failure, and the only copy I have is a hard copy in my notebook of colors. Otherwise, I would share the RLM along with the Japanese, Italian, US, French and Britsh color charts I also made. It took about a month of researching several web sites. I like being thorough with my painting. Excellent article though! Great download!

Submitted: 7/14/2010 8:25:25 PM (CST)