Camo

[peterbarclay]

Hi guys After much research i cannot find one photo of any tiger with camo painted on the roadwheels. They were always left plain dark yellow probably because they were always covered in mud oil grease and dust and it would have been a waste of paint .I will probably be proved wrong by someone with a photo but generally it seems they did not bother. Please discuss Cheers

[Kent Wiik]

Hi Peter,

Not that uncommon on Tiger I as they didn’t have any schurzen like the Panther had and on them you never see camo painted wheels.







Kind regards
Kent

[Dietrich Weber]

I think that at the German army, everything was possible. Much was improvised.
from three made one.

[Christian Steinhauer]

Hello Peter,

as far as I know the general directive said only one colour for wheels because
a two coloured and turning wheel is more an indicator than camoflage.
I've seen wheels on vehicles with more than one colour. On my opinion it is
possibly this belongs to the field workshops which make the camos and don't
know or don't care about the general directive.

Please have a look here
http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/im ... -ii_13.jpg
As example: This picture is from a serie of pictures where you can see the
painting in the field of this KingTiger.

[peterbarclay]

Hi yes you would have to be an idiot to put camo on your wheels. AS soon as you moved your cover would be destroyed. The enemy could probably even judge your speed by how fast the wheels are turning . Thank you Cheers

[Kent Wiik]

Gents,

Yes the red brown and green was painted by each individual unit workshop to match the landscape the unit was fighting in at the moment.

This painted wheels or not has been discussed many times and a Google search on the subject is recommended.

Bare in mind the spinning wheel effect when colour beside dunkelgelbe was attached to the wheels is of minor concern compared to blend in to the surroundings at ambush and at rest hiding from Jabos.
A roaring Maybach will tell the enemy a tank is coming long before any spinning wheels can be seen

Kind regards
Kent

[peterbarclay]

Hi guys i was talking about late tiger 1 not tiger 11 and it appears to be very rare on late tiger 1 which is what i am building .I have googled and it seems a lot of people mistake dirt on the wheels as being camo .It is difficult to tell with old poor quality black and white photos. Cheers everyone

[phil fitzpatrick]

Hi Peter
I will list a few of my books below which confirms Kent's pictures and info.
There are plenty of Late Tiger1 pictures showing the camo on the Tiger wheels,either
one colour or both the red and green.

Technical and Operational History TIGER 1944-1945 Vol 2
By Waldermar Trojca Gregor Trojca

Tigers in Italy 1943-1945
By Waldermar Trojca Karlheinz Munch and Markus Jaugitz

Germany's Tiger Tanks DW to Tiger1
By Thomas Jentz and Hilary Doyle

Tigers in Combat Vol 1 and Vol 11
By Wolfgang Schnieder

Three of these also have colour pictures created but they are all confirmed else
where in the black and white photo's,even if a magnifying glass might have to be used.
You can tell the difference with mud and the camo out lines,unless the wheels are
saturated.
I dont think any or all of those well respected Authurs would have allowed the colour
pictures into their books if the information was not correct.
My chosen subject for my Late Tiger1,is a Tank from the 504 in Italy.
The Book Tigers In Italy show several black and white pictures of the camo and in
particular,there are 2 Tigers run off the road in a big gully both with camo on the
Wheels.
Also others on the flat cars being transported to Italy showing that they had probably
been camoed up in preperation for imeadiate use in battle,as was the 504.

Hope the above helps you choose the subject for your Tiger and although the books are
expensive,I couldnt resist them and can recomend all of them.
Cheers
Phil