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tigertc · 23-01-2008

HI NJ,
Accept my apologies on this one, i seem to have sent you on a wild goose chase. I quickly checked the tags on my bookmarks before rushing off to work. It had whitwash and 501 in the tags so i pasted!!!

Anyways,.. to find an actual real picture of 213 that accurately portrays the winter camo scheme will be difficult (that's if one exists at all ). Early German tanks that were built and factory painted foir winter conditions (Due to knowing before hand where they were destined) Had oil based whitewash (winter camo scheme) applied.

More often than not tanks had standard camo factory applied then winter schemes added in the field. the type of whitewash applied in the field varies dependant on early or late war.
1. Early war 1939-1943 = oil based.
2. Late war= water based

The water based whitewash being applied in the field by hand due to lack of oil based thinners for the paint (No coincidence that the Third Reich had run out of fuel). This type of whitewash would easily wash off in rain and flake in the sun (i guess you can let your imagination run wild with the weathering techniques for your model).

The assumption would be that the battle constraints around La Gleize at the time would have meant that the whitewashing took place quickly and when the weather changed washed off just as quickly leaving bits of the wash stuck in nooks and crannys.
I am summising that the Germans probably thought that the water based a better solution, after all ..if they had used oil based they would have had to repaint the entire tank when the weather changed.

In some of the black and white pictures on the site it seemed to me that a few of the Tigers looked like they had the remnants of whitewash on them. It can also be seen the variations in paint schemes across the board as the rag tag remnants of the 501st was then made up of Tigers from different divisions.

To track where all the tigers came from would be a mammoth undertaking.

Just like todays army, if it starts snowing .....out comes the whitewash.

23-01-2008	#4 (permalink)
tigertc Scale Model Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: York Real Name: Terry / Terence My Models: R/c tanks Visit tigertc's Gallery Posts: 838 Images: 19	HI NJ, Accept my apologies on this one, i seem to have sent you on a wild goose chase. I quickly checked the tags on my bookmarks before rushing off to work. It had whitwash and 501 in the tags so i pasted!!! Anyways,.. to find an actual real picture of 213 that accurately portrays the winter camo scheme will be difficult (that's if one exists at all ). Early German tanks that were built and factory painted foir winter conditions (Due to knowing before hand where they were destined) Had oil based whitewash (winter camo scheme) applied. More often than not tanks had standard camo factory applied then winter schemes added in the field. the type of whitewash applied in the field varies dependant on early or late war. 1. Early war 1939-1943 = oil based. 2. Late war= water based The water based whitewash being applied in the field by hand due to lack of oil based thinners for the paint (No coincidence that the Third Reich had run out of fuel). This type of whitewash would easily wash off in rain and flake in the sun (i guess you can let your imagination run wild with the weathering techniques for your model). The assumption would be that the battle constraints around La Gleize at the time would have meant that the whitewashing took place quickly and when the weather changed washed off just as quickly leaving bits of the wash stuck in nooks and crannys. I am summising that the Germans probably thought that the water based a better solution, after all ..if they had used oil based they would have had to repaint the entire tank when the weather changed. In some of the black and white pictures on the site it seemed to me that a few of the Tigers looked like they had the remnants of whitewash on them. It can also be seen the variations in paint schemes across the board as the rag tag remnants of the 501st was then made up of Tigers from different divisions. To track where all the tigers came from would be a mammoth undertaking. Just like todays army, if it starts snowing .....out comes the whitewash. Last edited by tigertc; 23-01-2008 at 11:05.