Chortle  | 28 Aug 2010 4:57 a.m. PST |
I found this picture Which looks like desert yellow (or to me anyway). Are there any experts on the board? For the motorcycles – Panzer grey and later desert yellow, and even cammo later in the war? I have seen pictures of all of these options on collectors vehicles, but you never know if this is accurate. |
| ming31 | 28 Aug 2010 5:31 a.m. PST |
The lastest issue of fine scale modeler has an article on making a bike trooper . |
| 14th Brooklyn | 28 Aug 2010 5:38 a.m. PST |
Just like any piece of equipment. Either Dark Grey (early war) or Sandgelb nach Muster (late war). And like any other piece of equiment soldiers were allowed to camouflage with Green, Brown or White. Cheers, Burkhard |
| combatpainter | 28 Aug 2010 5:59 a.m. PST |
dunkelgelb Ochre color basically. What did that look like exactly? Your guess is as good as mine. You can use almost any mustard (desert yellow) color in your painting cabinet after early 43 when the orders were to now use this 'dunkelgelb' color to paint all vehicle. |
| RavenscraftCybernetics | 28 Aug 2010 6:10 a.m. PST |
its missing the tassles on the handlebars! |
| Chortle | 28 Aug 2010 6:53 a.m. PST |
Good enough for me. I have dozen of my bicycles and twenty or so motorcycles to paint up for my 20mm forces. I expect I will do them in a mix of paint jobs. |
rvandusen  | 28 Aug 2010 7:28 a.m. PST |
"its missing the tassles on the handlebars!" Good one, If it's the general's bike it should have playing cards in the spokes and a little bell on front. Maybe the seat would be 'metal-flake' |
| Duc de Limbourg | 28 Aug 2010 8:48 a.m. PST |
The one they stole from my granddad was simply black |
| aecurtis | 28 Aug 2010 9:22 a.m. PST |
Sorry, kids. Don't draw assumptions from GI Joe toys. The overwhelming majority of German WWII military bicycles were BLACK. That was the most common color of civilian bicycles in the '30s. The Germans issued a few military Fahrrads, and "acquired" shedloads of civilian bicycles, especially in occupied countries--and even required some bicycle companies in occupied countries to produce more for them. If any of these civilian bikes were repainted, they were very few. link To "codify" things, Heeres Dienstvorschrift 293--Das Truppenfahrrad (26 May 1942)--specified that bicycles were to be painted black, which was a gloss black; this practice continued throughout the war: veteranum.de/?p=36 (I need to get my hands on the 1935 edition of HDV 293 to see what it said before the war.) For any one period photo you may find that suggests a re-paint in a "military" color, you'll find a hundred photos of Truppenfahrad with glossy black civilian-pattern bicycles--even those carrying machineguns! picture picture picture picture picture Some even had shiny spokes! picture picture picture A few more interesting photos here (scroll down a bit): link As an aside, Dunkelgelb isn't just any old thing. The RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung e.V., established by the German chemical industry in 1925, has set standards for paint colors (Standard Farben) since then up to the present day, just as do their counterparts with US Federal Standard (FS) Colors and British Standard (BS) Colours. The military specification for Dunkelgelb was RAL 7028 (there are painting references that state that no RAL color was specified for Dunkelgelb; they are wrong). That actually meant something then, and it still does now. However, the RAL colours have changed since 1943, when RAL 7028 was specified as a base color for equipment, so it's necessary to match the original, not the current RAL color. Sure, paint fades; and units may not always have had the right paint. But we *do* know what the color was supposed to be. Allen |
| Company D Miniatures | 28 Aug 2010 11:10 a.m. PST |
Many years ago there was an article in Mil Mod about a 'Stormfeldpostmann' :-) showing bicycle with sidecar sporting an MG34- with a sack of mail and parcels and ammo for the MG I pity the chap actually pedaling the bike no doubt wanting a Zundapp 750 for xmas. I think the combo was Dunkelgrau. |
| combatpainter | 28 Aug 2010 12:22 p.m. PST |
Good! When in doubt paint it black and add grey highlights. I love it! |
| zoneofcontrol | 28 Aug 2010 3:14 p.m. PST |
I understand the German army used only bikes manufactured by Henry Ford. He told them they could have them in any color they wanted as long as they wanted black! |
| Militia Pete | 28 Aug 2010 3:28 p.m. PST |
Wow, the Germans had foot powered lights on the front? Where is the little flag on the back? Clown horns? Ah, memories of the boardwalk in Ocean City N.J.are suddenly brought back. I wonder if the German's had an occasional Big Wheel with a brake! |
| AICUSV | 28 Aug 2010 4:19 p.m. PST |
The one a friend of mine has is black. |
| Timbo W | 28 Aug 2010 4:36 p.m. PST |
As the Duc says, many civvy cycles were 'taken into service' (ie nicked) by the Germans. I hear that the standard insult delivered by the Dutch to the Germans is 'I believe you may have my bicycle', though these days I guess its Grandpa's bicycle. |
| WarpSpeed | 28 Aug 2010 9:46 p.m. PST |
Has everyone forgotten the close pin and a playing card… |
| Chortle | 28 Aug 2010 10:16 p.m. PST |
Allen comes through again.. whatever you are putting in his coffee, don't stop! Thanks Allen. I have undercoated my bicycle battalion and am going to paint the bikes glossy black, with a red brown saddle, silver spokes. I will just matt the saddle and leave the rest with a nice gloss coat. Cheers Neil |
| elsyrsyn | 29 Aug 2010 5:57 a.m. PST |
Surprising that they wanted them, by regulation even, GLOSS black … but I guess every kid wants his bike to look sharp.  Doug |
| Bellbottom | 29 Aug 2010 5:27 p.m. PST |
If I remember correctly that article in Mil Mod was an April Fools Day spoof, and the sidecar was armed wth a Kartofflenwerfer Mk I.! |
