|
There is quite a bit of contention about this paint scheme. It’s known as “Scheme G” and was used for about a month in the summer of 1942. There is a degraded color photo of the ship in this scheme that seems to suggest greens and browns, however, after this photo is color corrected, the greens and browns disappear and it suggests the Germans used their stocks of grey paint. Additionally, no stocks of green and brown tint for the lead was carried in the stock. This doesn’t preclude the possibility that these stocks were shipped to Norway.
I was involved in the Asmussen Åkra book project “Tirpitz: Hitlers Last Battleship”. My copy is the crown jewel of my book collection, and I’ve literally had folks offer me a small fortune for my copy, it is THE Tirpitz monograph. I remember Asmussen and Åkra putting a lot of research into Scheme G and I was asked to weigh in myself. It really does seem that after the photo is corrected, it’s more grey than green.
Asmussen and Åkra supported their position with evidence and I looked over everything myself, I couldn’t find fault with what they were saying, and it did seem they’d gone deep into the archives. I had to side with them after hearing the pitch.
All this said, that’s deep level research in a book that few have ever heard of or seen in person. I think it’s completely reasonable after looking at the color photograph to take the opposite opinion, and I’d love to see new conflicting evidence myself. It’s no fun when a mystery is “solved”.
This is sort of similar to the Bismarck yellow turret tops. There are eyewitness accounts that they were painted yellow as she was retiring to France on May 26, 1941. No one is sure if it was completed. Even more contentious is the color of Bismarck’s turrets while working up in the Baltic. Most now believe they were dark grey, but still some believe red.
Just some interesting conversation here. I think it’s entirely reasonable to model Tirpitz in the green scheme, I have this kit myself, and someday I think it’ll make a fine build! Yours is absolutely gorgeous
|