All of your points are legitimate and well-founded. The ultimate answer
quite possibly will be that we can never 'know' certainly. However...
> Presumably (?) the RLM was
> smart enough to figure this out and select more appropriate
> undersurface color than the WWI blue.
I'd have to disagree on this one. I give much greater credence to
bureaucratic inertia and apathy than that. The very fact that Luftwaffe
a/c were painted blue on the underside *at all* during the 30's and 40's,
and particularly in a relatively similar shade, leads me to believe that
the colors in question were very likely the same, at least insofar as
changing pigments and paint technology allow. In fact, the latter point, I
shouldn't think, would allow for a greater variation in these colors that
would be seen among a/c painted in the field, anyway.
Thus, I have used, and will for now continue to use, RLM 65. Not that
that makes me right, mind you. Just my best guess....
Erik
BTW, I am now heading for a Black Butte Porter (local brew), having
exhausted myself of The Blue subject. :^|
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"The Heavens were the grandstands, and only the Gods were spectators. The
stake was the World. The forfeit was the Player's place at the table; and
the Game had no recess. It was the most dangerous of all sports-- and the
most fascinating. It got in the blood like wine. It aged men 40 years in
40 days; it ruined nervous systems in an hour. It was a fast game-- the
average life of a pilot at the Front was 48 hours. And, to many, it
seemed an Age....
Elliot White Springs, WWI ace
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