Kreigsmarine carrier bird colors

[maxmwill]

This is kind of related to my earlier Stuka whif, by taking the He 118 and putting in squadron strength on the Graf Zeppelin. Looking at the Wikipedia page on this, it was proposed 12 navalised Ju87s, 30 Bf109s, and Fi167s, later amended to 30 Ju87s and 12 Bf109s, with the Fi167s gotten rid of.

Well, if the He118 were available, and the Japanese had been able to help the German engineers navalize the 118s, what would the color schemes be?

Would they be the splinter camouflage, or something else, as would befit the Kriegsmarine? I know that the torpedo bombers that they used, the He59s, 115s, the He111s, and the Condors had the splinter pattern, but what would be a possible paint scheme for a ship-board based aircraft?

And what possible squadron emblems would be used? Would they be adjuncts of the various shore-based torpedo squadrons, or would they be independent of those?

While I wasn't aware previously that there was a He118 model available, I am now, and now I'm wondering if this might not make for a nice future project.

As to the kit itself, I have a couple Judy's, in 1/48(one is a -1 model, and the other is a -2), so I could use those as patterns to navalise(add a scale tail hook) the 1/72 scale 118.

But, I'm not quite sure if the splinter pattern would be acceptable, or if something else would work.

[rickshaw]

Can't get better than dark grey.  Perhaps with a splinter scheme of darker grey.  With undersurfaces of light grey.  Have I suggested that grey might be a popular colour? 

[Captain Canada]

Whatever Luftwaffe schemes of the era....only darker. More sea-like.

[luft46models]

Or get John Baxters Alternate Kreigsmarine books

William in Oz

[Dizzyfugu]

I'd assume that, early in the war, the aircraft would have received a splinter scheme in RLM 72 and 73, with RLM underneath, low waterline and no mottles.
RLM 72 and 73 were special colors for open water duties - He 115 were painted this way.

Later I'd suppose that overall style would change to higher waterlines with mottled flanks, and maybe also RLM 74/75 above with RLM 76 underneath, or a mix of RLM 72/73/74/75 on the upper surfaces? That's speculative, sure.

The late war colors like RLM 81/82/83 were rather limited to land-based aircraft, so I'd rule them out. But on long range aircraft like He 177 bombers that flew over the Atlantic and the North Sea, patches of RLM 02 had been added to the basic splinter schemes in order to create a kind of web pattern. I'd guess that investigating late He 177 would be a good benchmark.

[maxmwill]

Yes, I am aware that the He-115 was painted with a splinter scheme, but wasn't that, in part, because it had to be moored when not in use?

What I was thinking was what a possible paint scheme or series of paint schemes would carrier-borne aircraft bear.

While a 115 that is moored might need the camouflage of the splinter scheme, what would better conceal a bird that is on a carrier?

I can see a light blue under, but the topside?

Wouldn't the Kriegsmarine have adopted something along the lines of what the USN hasd?

Not the same, but similar, perhaps?