Ciao Olaf and all,
@ Olaf,
as usual very precise and value add infos from your side, my personal congratulations my friend.
We have to progress with a pragmatic approach here about the 2 ships and related calendar dates.
Adm Hipper got rammed by HMS Glowworm on April 8th, 1940. The " crazy painter " Brennecke correctly refers to did that job just before she sailed back to Wilhelmshaven in Germany to be repaired, photos of Adm Hipper into the drydock there shows that partial upperworks camo I have released on my drawings made with Abram years ago, if you check correctly April 1940 ones.
http://www.kbismarck.org/forum/viewtopi ... 8&start=15Than the Adm Hipper went back to Norway on her usual 2 tone KM grey's and formed a squadron in Trondheim with Nurnberg and Gneisenau.
Those " full camouflage " with the surrounding area in Trondheim Fjord were applyed as said on Adm Hipper, Nurnberg and Gneisenau between June 10 and June 20 as far as I can realize currently. Your descriptions of the real intentions of the ship crew to try to hide the warships with the surrounding fjord area with reference with the colours leave no doubts in my opinion about the camouflage patterns, just like Tirpitz on june 1942 on same situation, but there we have colour photos to prove it.
There are photos of German tankers in Trondheim Fjord ( ref. tanker Biwi ) and they are camouflaged with brown and green patterns of course, as logic and obvious, just in line with Brennecke and Kahler references.
A different story about Gneisenau after being torpedoed by HMS Clyde on June 20th, 1940, as I wrote above that was a particular camo done for her return voyage, just like Prinz Eugen during Op. Zauberflote on May 1942.
So back on the original matter, the model Maxim is making shows Adm Hipper on June period with full camouflage on her, so not the one after being rammed by HMS Glowworm on April 1940, but the one Adm Lutjens ordered to be applyed on the 3 warship squadron while at anchor in Trondheim fjord between June 10 and June 20 of 1940.
He probably gave an order similar to the one he delivered from Bismarck to Prinz Eugen during Op. Rheinubung while approaching Grimstad Fjord on May 1941 : " ... in case of a longer stay in the Grimstad Fjord get ready to paint the ship with camouflage to hide them into the fjord ... " but we know it was not necessary as they sailed away immediately and they only removed the Baltic camo.
In this case Adm Hipper, Gneisenau and Nurnberg remained as said at anchor for 10 days in Trondheim, .... plenty of time for the KM sailors " high performance painters " to paint over the warships a couple of times as they did in fact.
As you correctly wrote : " The Kriegsmarine seems to have been more colourful than we thought ... "... and I fully agree here.
But if you had been 3 times in Trondheim Fjord as I did on june-july period, than you will realize immediately that it is so green that a grey warship anchored will be a "sitting duck" in there, ... as you can see her from 50 km far away approaching,......... that is why camouflage does exist at all, ......
Bye Antonio