Snyder and Short Enterprises

Kriegsmarine WW II Ship Colors Paint Chip set #1
Reviewed by Timothy Dike
It seems that everyone always wants to know which manufactures colors your used to paint your ship, and the simple answer is that I have yet to find a perfect match for more than a couple colors right out of the bottle. If you want to do it right, your going to have to mix them yourself. That's where these chip sets really comes in handy, Snyder and Short have expanded their line to include the German Navy paint colors in use during the second world war including the prewar years.
   
Card One includes the following Prewar, Early war, Baltic Scheme, and underwater hull and boot topping colors:
  • Hellgrau 50 (RAL 7001) used on superstructure and upper works
  • Dunkelgrau 51 (RAL 7000) used on hull
  • Hellgrau (RAL 7038) used on superstructure and upper works
  • Mittelgrau (Mix of RAL 7001 and 7036) used on hull
  • Dunkelgrau (RAL 7037) used on bow and stern panels

    • Dunkelblaugrau (RAL 7026) underwater dark blue gray, also used as an alternative boot topping;
  • Schiffsbodenfarbe III Rot 5 (RAL 8013) underwater red
  • Schiffsbodenfarbe [alternate color] (mix of RAL 3009 and 3013) an alliterate underwater red
  • Schiffsbodenfarbe Grau 1 (RAL 7016) boot topping
Click the images
below to enlarge

On the second card are the following Norwegian and other colors:
  • Dunkelblaugrau  dark blue gray, 5% reflectance
  • Mittelblaugrau medium blue gray, 20% reflectance
  • Hellblaugrau light blue gray, similar in tone to Royal Navy AP507C, which is a 45% reflectance.
  • Aluminumbronze 16 (RAL 9006) a metallic paint used on funnel caps
  • Dunkelgrau 2 (RAL 7024)
  • Deckfarbe Gelb 13 (RAL 1003) yellow turret tops
  • Deckfarbe Rot 7 (RAL 3011) red turret tops
  • Schnellbootweiss used on S-boats and in camouflage patterns on other vessels
  • Rostschutzfarbe Graugrun 12 (RAL 6006) used on torpedo boats during the 1930s
  • Deckfarbe Weiss (RAL 9002)
  • Dunkelblau 9 (RAL 5004)

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Also included in this set are camouflage markings for the Tirpitz in 1942/43, and a Type T-35 Torpedo boat from 1942. There is also a separate sheet with notes about the colors and the research to accurately match them.
These paint chip are actual painted patches using real paint, not simply printed colors. Printing technology today falls short of being able to consistently match colors, so this is the best method to reproduce the colors. Don't try to match them by what is shown on screen here, as the average montitor can not match the colors accurately.  The cards themselves are 8-1/2" x 11" heavy stock with individual colors painted on self adhesive patched that are then applied to the card. I keep mine in sheet protectors in a binder for handy reference. 

There is an ongoing debate about what color the Bismarck's turrets were painted during her last sortie. Was is yellow or red? Better yet was it Deckfarbe Gelb 13 or Deckfarbe Rot 7? Though I consider myself in the Deckfarbe Gelb 13 camp, these chip sets will give you the best available starting point for your recreations.
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