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GE792 SS Panzergrenadier Platoon

Painting German SS Camouflage
GE503 3.7cm PaK36 gun (SS)
GE794 SS Machine-gun Platoon – Waffen SS Plane Tree and Oak Leaf
GE795 SS Mortar Platoon
GE512 5cm PaK38 gun (SS) As promised Simon has put together a guide on how to
GE557 15cm sIG33 gun (SS)
paint German camouflage cloth. In this first part he looks at
GE793 SS Infanterie Platoon
the Waffen SS Plane Tree and Oak Leaf patterns.
GE556 7.5cm leIG18 gun (SS)
GE796 SS Pioneer Platoon
Plane Tree
A Major of an SS reconnaissance section was the first to
suggest the Waffen SS be equipped with camouflage
clothing.
Recent Articles
Assembling Sd Kfz 251 Uhu Half-Tracks
Assembling The Panther (Late) /
Jagdpanther
Assembling the Wespe Artillery Battery This lead to the development and widespread use of camouflage
zeltbahns (Tent/Poncho), smocks and helmet covers within the SS.
Assembling the Panzer II Tank Platoon
The use of the Wehrmacht’s splinter pattern zeltbahn predates
Raising Roads those used by the SS, but I will go further into this pattern in another
Plastic Bases: Rural (XX107) article.
Painting Bedspring Armour
The earliest clothing was tested in 1937 by a professor who based
Damaging Bedspring Armour
his studies on the effect of sunlight through trees. The Plane Tree
Assembling the Panzergrenadier Platoon pattern is the earliest used by the SS and can be seen in pre-war
(GBX169) photos.
Modelling a Red Banner
It is a reversible material that has a “spring” green and "autumn"
brown side which a soldier can change depending on the
surrounding vegetation. Plane Tree camouflage clothing was used
up until around 1944.

For Painting Plane Tree camouflage I start with a black undercoat, in

fact I start with a black undercoat on all my WWII miniatures as the
colours tend to turn out a little bit more drab.

Right: Close-ups of Simons "Spring" Plane Tree camouflage.

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The first step is to get the base colour for the camouflage material, as you can see
by the photograph of the Plane Tree; the “spring” side uses green to start with and
then adds other colours on top. I paint camouflage in the same steps as the
material is printed; that way, you get a closer look to the real thing.

Now on to colours. I use GW paints mainly due to the fact that I have easy access
to this range and have made up my own colour recipes for consistency. Please
experiment with different brands of paint to get the colour to match and let me know
what colours you come up with (Particularly Vallejo as I’m just starting to explore
this range).

The “spring” side colour scheme starts with a base coat mixture of 50:50 catachan
green and camo green. If you look at the photo of the soldier wearing the Plane
Tree smock you can see two shades of green. In 15mm scale you would never be
able to distinguish between these two shades, so one shade of green is enough.

The next step is to add some random shapes and dots in a 50:50 mixture of
scorched brown and graveyard earth.

Once this has dried a third and final colour is added. Officially this should be black,
but of all the examples of Plane Tree clothing I’ve seen, the black is always a
washed out shade. This time a 50:50 mixture of black and catachan green is added
in further random shapes and dots.

To finish the pattern off, using the base colour green, add small dots on top of the
black shapes. You should get a pattern like the one in the step-by-step guide and
your Plane Tree camouflage is complete.

Spring Plane Tree Vallejo

Base Green Germ Cam Bright Green VP833

Brown Germ Cam Med Brown VP826

Black/Green Germ Cam Extr. Dk Green VP896

Oak Leaf
Oak Leaf camouflage was introduced in 1942-43
and followed the same principles of creating a
pattern of sunlight through trees as the plane tree
did. In addition to zeltbahns, smocks and helmet
covers, padded reversible winter parkas and
panzercrew overalls were made from this material.

Like Plane Tree, Oak Leaf was reversible with one

side being “spring” green/brown and the other
“autumn” orange/brown. Oak Leaf was the most
common of the SS reversible materials and saw
use up until the end of the war.

Spring Oak
Vallejo
Leaf

Germ Cam Pale Brown

Base Brown
no.825

Germ Cam Dark Green

Dark Green
no.979

Germ Cam Bright Green

Green
no.833

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The base colour for “spring” Oak Leaf is brown, so the first colour I apply to the
undercoated figure is a 50:50 mixture of scorched brown and bleached bone. I
tend to use bleached bone rather than white as it gives a dustier looking colour.

The next step is to add a dark green, made up of 2 parts catachan green to 1 part
black, in the form of random shapes and dots.

Once the dark green has dried, mix up a light green using the same formula as
that used for the Plane Tree base (50:50 catachan green/camo green). Add the
light green to the dark green shapes and dots, being careful to leave a dark green
border as seen in the step by step guide.

To finish the camouflage off add a few dark green dots to the light green shapes.
There you have it: completed Oak Leaf camouflage.

As I mention both Plane Tree and Oak Leaf are reversible. I’ve only used the
“spring” colours as the army I’m building is based around the time of the
Normandy campaign. If you’re collecting a German army around the time of the
battle of the bulge for example, then you’ll want to paint your camouflage in
autumn colours. The best way to do this would be to use the guide above, but
replace the colours with autumn hues.

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A search on the internet, your local library or book store should reward you with the colours you need to get the autumn
look.

So what are you waiting for grab your miniatures, paint brush and paints …and get painting.

Simon Hooker (Sihook)

Additional painting tip from Evan

I’ve painted some autumn camo. I just used the same technique for the
"spring" camo pattern as in Simon’s article above, but I swapped two of the
colours for the "Spring" camo.

I kept the base brown, but swapped the Dark green for VP822 "Cam Black
Brown" and the light green for VP929 "Light Brown" - and then I just
followed Simon's instructions. This, worked really well for me.

Cheers,

~ Evan.

Last Updated On Monday, September 14, 2020 by Luke at Battlefront

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