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any one know how u-47 was painted and the colors she was during her raid at scapa flow? i want to model u-47, but i dont want a paint sceme from when she wasnt there. scapa happened in 1939 if that helps
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Here is a paste of
Here is a paste of an old post from u47.org in which your question is answered by "Dougie", a Scot who knows entirely TOO much about this subject.
I have written an article on U47's colour schemes, the modifications made to U47 during its career and the inaccuracies in the Amati kit. I would be happy to email it to anyone who is interested. Here is a brief summary of U47's colours in October 1939 -
U47 in October 1939 employed a standard three-tone colour scheme. The first grey - the upper grey - was painted on the conning tower, the upper hull (above the waterline) and the steel horizontal surfaces at the extreme bow and stern. This colour was either the usual wartime Hellgrau 50 (light grey, RAL7001, FS36375. The paints to use are either Colourcoats KM01, Humbrol 64/127 or Xtracolour 255) OR Dunkelgrau 51 (RAL7000, FS35237. The paints to use are either Humbrol 145, Colourcoats KM02. Despite its name it was a medium blue grey) Determining which of these two colours is EXTREMELY difficult from black and white photos.
The second grey was painted on the lower hull, below the waterline. This was Schiffsbodenfarbe III Grau 1 (RAL7016, DKM 23b, The paint to use is Colourcoats KM05 and it was an anthracite grey).
The division between the first two greys took place along the vertical surfaces of the hull, just below the free-flooding holes.
There was no bootline/boot-topping (the dark grey horizontal stripe between lower and upper waterline) on U-boats; these were only applied to surface units.
The third colour was the wooden deck colour. Most U-boats decks, and that of U47 in October 1939, were stained with a wood preservative. When new, the deck would have been black. As it was exposed to the elements, the deck would quickly become bleached by saltwater and the sun. This would give the deck a muddy grey colour with a brown tinge. The more the deck was subjected to weathering, the lighter and browner it would become. In addition, a wet deck would look darker than a dry one.
U47 had the top of its saddle tanks painted in the upper colour during the Scapa Flow attack. During its time at Wilhelmshaven between the 17th and 20th October 1939, the upper surfaces of U47’s saddle tanks were painted dark grey. (Several photographs of U47 arriving at Kiel on the 21st October 1939 reveal that the upper surfaces of the saddle tanks were much darker than they had been on the 17th).
Dougie
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