I am building these guys for a small diorama with a Dragon Elefent. What color do I need to use for their uniforms? I am using Tamiya acrylics, so the "X" number would be a great help.
Thanks a bunch guys.
http://www.dragon-models.com/d-m-item.asp?pid=DRA6180

Xf-65 field gray is what you want.

Best wishes,

Gaz

Ahh the indomitable field grey question. Dana there is no right or wrong answer to this question due to the colour variation throughout the war. As the war progressed the quality of the cloth used in German uniforms deteriorated and some cloth was even made from ground up Russian uniforms giving it a brownish colour. For years I have been trying to find the right colour but alas there is no mythical correct Field Grey. At the moment I'm using XF54 Dark Sea Grey for mid to late war infantry as to my eye it looks right. If you go for XF 65 Field Grey it looks too green. If it's lightened slightly it's great for early war Fallschirmjager knockensacks but I personally find it to be too green for straightforward uniforms. In the early part of the war when the M36 tunics were being worn the tunic was a greenish hue with grey trousers but then went fully grey.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d2/25/35/d22535e4a87864746a9b02b54fecd614.jpg

The site below is one I use quite a lot for checking paint colours as these are all original uniforms, mainly in very good condition, so the cloours are pretty true to life.

http://www.germanmilitaria.com/Galleries/Uniforms.html

Your best bet is to trawl the net and save some pics of original uniforms. What I've done is save literally hundreds of photos from the net (auction houses/militaria dealers like this one are great) so I have a visual record of the the masive variation in colours. Then I've assembled a load of different greys/uniform colours and in a notebook which I use for writing down paint mixes when I do specific colours, I'v painted a square of each colour to see what colour it dries to noting the paint number next to it. Even though it's on paper it dries as it would on the figure. That way I've got all of the colours available so I can compare them to photos of original uniforms. By having this colour chart you can also use it as a base for mixing paints either adding greens or browns for different cloth types according to whereabouts you are on the timeline. Don't forget as well that officers uniforms were usually private purchase as they received an allowance. With this they would naturally have a better quality of cloth as they were being made to measure.
There is no absolute "correct" colour to paint Germans which is my main area of modelling these days. I tend to use a few different colours as plain colours vary depending on cloth quality, where it was manufactured, time of the war, fading etc so you can see there's no definitive answer sadly. It's a question of experimentation until you find a colour that you feel looks right. The colours that I use at the moment are XF54- Dark Sea Grey and XF 24- Dark Grey (this comes out a bit dark so needs lightening a bit). If I want a greenish tinge to the grey then I add a little XF-65 Field Grey which is actually green. Experiment on some old figures before you paint your new ones otherwise you'll end up Mr Muscling them to strip the paint off which I've done many times. Try the notebook approach. I find it saves time and is really helpful. Good luck with finding a colour that you're happy with. Don't be afraid to try different shades as you'll find one in the end.

You'll notice that if you click on any of the photos on this site that it will change the page to various views of the tunic inside and out and give you close ups. Don't forget to check both Heer and SS as tunics were interchangeable as there were no major differences between the services tunics and it's colours that you're after. I forgot to mention that to you. If you look at the SS page you get front and reverse of the camo smocks which is fantastic as you can use that as a template for painting an individual smock pattern as the quality of the pics is superb. Makes it a lot easier.

http://www.germanmilitaria.com/Galleries/Uniforms.html

really nice links!!...and i agree dont exist the perfect colors specially on old uniforms ,the color change from many factors wearing,weather,environment,time,factories production and lot,still now,i still have some of my army T-Shirt and Shirt made in the '90 and every piece is from a different manufacturer and have a slightly different green

Thanks for those links. I've bookmarked em' for future reference. Just goes to show how many color variations that can exist in one uniform system.

Gaz

Great info guys, thanks. The funny thing is; to my eye, in the picture on the box, the uniforms have a green cast to them. Is it just me?

Proper feldgrau uniforms of the early period are greenish. Your eyes aren't lying to you. The point is though, once you start painting your figures, you have limitless shades to choose from. XF-65 is just a place to start.

Well, after looking at the links you guys supplied I see the great difference in colors you were talking about. Well, if I can't get it wrong, whatever I do is right, right?!

That's the beauty of the internet. Sharing sources of info is literally at the touch of a button. I've got literally hundreds of sites bookmarked which are invaluable. Occasionally (and this drives me bloody mad) a site will just disappear taking with it all that fantastic research material, so what I do now is once I find a good site like the second link I put up, I save the pictires onto a USB hard drive. They're pretty cheap if you get them off ebay and they're huge memory wise. On one stick I've saved about 1600 period photos just of SS infantry, a good percentage of which came off one site and that's just in one folder of many I've got saved on there lol.. These days I tend to use the net more than my books as it's there in front of me while I'm modelling plus you have an infinite source of reference. And it's free

This ones another brilliant site but for equipment. Not only is it great for colour references and showing the variations but shows how kit goes together, various kit layouts for specialist roles pioneers, cavalry etc. It also identifies kit where you look at it on the sprue and then think "What the hell is that?". I'd got some Preiser figures and the amount of kit on the sprues makes Dragon look incredibly mean spareswise. Some bits had me baffled and I like to think I'm pretty knowledgeable with German kit so I looked them up on this site. An excellent reference.

http://www.mp44.nl/

Thanks Karl, I book marked the site. Very, very useful indeed.