At the end of WWII, 10./NJG11 was based at Magdeburg about 75 miles from Berlin and was tasked with helping to provide some air defense to the night-time German skies.  Among the aircraft assigned were four Me 262B-1a/U1 radar equipped, two-seat night fighters.  The aircraft were converted from Me 262 trainers, the conversion being performed by Deutsche Lufthansa at Berlin-Staaken.  The four Me 262s were captured intact and were very well documented photographically and give good insight into late war German night fighter camouflage schemes.  The overall uniformity of finish, application of undersurface colors, stenciling, etc., leads some researchers (Merrick, Hitchcock) to believe that the aircraft were camouflaged at the point of manufacture.  Others (Ronald Belling, who examined one of the surviving aircraft while still in its ORIGINAL camouflage and markings) think that the aircraft were painted "in the field".  Of course, at this point in the war the "field" was not that far from the point of manufacture, and the front was overhead a few thousand meters.

 

In the subsequent text it may be easier to follow along if some of the following references are available:

1.    "From Magdeburg to Saxonwold"; Ronald R. Belling, Air International, April 1975.  pgs. 195-198

2.    Jet Planes of the Third Reich.  J. Richard Smith and Eddie J. Creek; Monogram Aviation Publications, Boylston MA, 1986.  pgs 290-295

3.    Messerschmitt Me 262.  Willy Radinger and Walter Schick; Schiffer Publications, Alten PA, 1993.  pgs 75-76, 92-93, 96

4.    Koku Fan FAOW Me 262; no.2, 1987.  pgs 56-59, 95

5.    Tank Magazine; German Fighters No. 1, pgs 129-131

6.    Luftwaffe Photo Album No. 1, pg. 78

7.    Koku Fan Illustrated No. 55, pgs 75-77

8.    Model Art Special Me 262; pgs 58-60, 150-151

9.    The Captive Luftwaffe.  Kenneth S. West; Putnam, London 1978.  pg. 118

10.    The Official Monogram Painting Guide to German Aircraft.  Kenneth A. Merrick and Thomas H. Hitchcock; Monogram Aviation Publications, Boylston MA, 1980.  pgs 54, 65

11.    Messerschmitt Me 262 - Arrow To The Future.  Walter J. Boyne; Smithsonian, Washington DC, 1980.  pgs 128-129, also pg. 154 shows ACCURATE restoration of WNr 110305, "red 8".

Listed below are the color numbers and descriptions of the colors discussed in the text below:

    RLM76    light blue (weissblau)

    RLM75    grey-violet (grauviolett)

    RLM81    brown violet (brunviolett)

    RLM82    light green (hellgrün)

    RLM83    dark green (dunkelgrün)

    RLM22    black (schwarz)

    RLM80    olive green (olivgrün)

    Hellgrau (light grey primer; Monogram Paint Guide pg. 143)

    RLM02    grey (RLM grau)

    A dark green primer, RLM number unidentified

 

In the text, there are references to simplified late war markings.  Basically, these are simple outline Balkankreuze in black on teh fuselages, white on the upper and lower wings ("red 10" probably had black upper wing Balkankreuze) and the Hakenkreuze were "fractured" on the arms by use of a stencil.

 

W.Nr. 110635 "red 10"

An overall finish of 76 (or possibly light grey primer) with random mottle or in some areas serpentine lines applied in 75.  There is a possibility that the mottle colors may have been 82 or 83; however, photo comparisons lead me to believe, from tonal comparisons, that the mottle color is 75.  The wings and nacelle tops also received the mottle application.  The paint application varied from small mottles, to squiggles, to an elongated solid, to translucent mottle.  Close study of photos also point out that there is a distinct difference in the style of paint application, the right side of the fuselage having more elongated, translucent, serpentine application.  The left side has a more random mottle of shorter, more opaque strokes.  There is a large patch of 75 at the forward base of the vertical fin, the antenna mast is mottled, the upper radar supports have an overspray of 75.  I think it is safe to assume that the upper surfaces of the wings had somewhat the same paint application as the fuselage.  Photos of the extended flaps seem to bear this out, with perhaps more of a bias toward the serpentine mottle, some translucent, some opaque.  The upper surfaces of the horizontal stabilizer are finished in solid 75, with the adjacent fairing in the same color.  The canopy frame was fairly solid 75 on the right side and mottled on the left side.  The undersurface was painted in 22, probably the permanent color, not the temporary distemper.  The undersurface demarcation ran along the lower fuselage chine line, along the center-line of the leading edge slats, and along a gentle down-slope along the sides of the nacelles front and rear, there being some difference in the demarcations on the outer nacelle flanks.  The bottom of the horizontal stabilizer and the adjacent fairing were also finished in 22, as were the lower radar support arms.  The drop tanks were black, worn down to either primer or natural metal on the forward ends (was it possible that the tanks were done in the temporary black distemper?).  The aircraft carried simplified late war markings and stencil-type swastikas.  The red 10 was thinly outlined in white and the aircraft did exhibit some stenciling, but it is not known if a full set was carried.  The full work number was carried on the vertical fin in black.

 

W.Nr. 110306