???? Looking at the afrika.org site I see lots of splashes and running streaks. Is it paint or mud or does anyone really know? Today's trivia question. Thanks Greg

Greg, it's really both. A number of photos show a painted two tone camouflage scheme, but the pix on the Afrikakorps website (and elsewhere) also show clearly that mud has been applied over the paint in many areas of the body. There is also a heavy layer of dust over parts of the body as well.. It is a very sloppy job, but there is no denying that areas of paint and markings have been obliterated or partially covered by the dust/mud coating. It may be that the painted colors no longer matched the local shade of sand, if the action had moved from one area to another, so mud was applied to "adjust" the camouflage.

There is some controversy over the colors used, as the famous series of photos is supposed to have been taken at Tobruk, which the Germans took in 1942. IF the GREIF was painted in the specified colors for 1942 Africa, it would have been RAL8020 Braun with cloud patches of RAL7027 Grau. But, many vehicles in 1942 hadn't been repainted, so GREIF could have been in the 1941 colors of RAL8000 Gelbbraun and RAL6008 Graugruen. I tend to lean toward the 1942 colors as my choice, but the contrast varies all over the lot - look at the two photos of Rommel's He 111H bomber on the Afrikakorps site, under "Rommel's Rides." Same airplane, same day, even the same time of day - which set of gray-scale values is right, and how do you determine which colors would fit the apparent grays in the pictures? One of the "18 Unnatural Laws of the Universe" is, "The man with one watch always knows what time it is; the man with two watches is never quite sure." So it is in interpreting different pictures, even if they were taken at the same time. One is over-exposed, the other under-exposed - which is closer, if either?

Thanks Bruce, I figured on doing the interior Grau and exterior the Braun with the Grey patches. I think it'll be fun to get some pigments to match the dirty spots and runs over the camo.