Lifecolor KM paints' relation to RAL

[Timmy C]

I'm thinking of picking up Lifecolor's KM Set I (http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=LC-CS09), but they don't list the paint colours by RAL, which is what most sources use when referring to Bismarck's colours. Is there a chart that matches Lifecolor's paint numbers/names with their RAL counterparts?

[Dan Banks]

Hey Tim; I have this set and it includes colors by DKM numbers, no reference to RAL. The first four are DKM50 silbergrau, DKM51 Dunkelgrau, DKM50 var. hellgrau, DKM51 var. mittlegrau, Dunkelgrau and Schiffsbodenfarbe rot 5. The first two are RAL7001 and RAL7000. The third is lighter like RAL7038, the fourth is a medium grey with no blue in it. The fifth is RAL7024 and the last is RAL8013. There is a linc in the scratchbuid section on the WWI pre-dreadnought Pommern. The author states that according to a german navy vet from that period, the mix for DKM51 was 7 parts white to 1 part black. RAL7000 is a medium grey with a blueish tint. Most paint mfgs. make or cross reference this tone with the bluish tint. When viewed in color pictures from the period the hull color looks like it has the blue in it, but since the KM colors were from before RAL came into being, the neutral grey per the above mix is probably closer to reality. In my opinion, the colorcoats RAL7000 is way too blue. The third and fourth "var." colors in this set, are in my opinion, probably the closest to the actual colors. This is of coarse, highly speculative and subject to modelers preference.

[Timmy C]

Thanks a bunch, Dan! Given what you say, I am inclined to buy the colour separately - certainly, there seems to be no cost benefit to buying the whole set versus individually if bought from LuckyModel.

For Bismarck, I'm looking at UA603 DKM 50 var, UA 604 DKM 51 var, UA 605 Dunkelgrau, and the UA 606 Hull red.

Incidentally, all the online references to RAL colours for WWII ships seems as bad a thing to do as if US camouflage sites were to cite FS numbers instead of their actual 5- names.

[Dan Banks]

Hey Tim; I think you will be happy with these colors. They airbrush really well, I don't even thin them, and they are slightly lighter to give a scale/weathered look. I have a copies of a series of postcards showing Adm.Hipper as first completed, with a very light sky and the sea is cut off the bottom of the picture. You can see what a difference this makes as compared to other color shots of KM ships that have the blue tint because of the sea and sky.