WW2 Aircraft Paint Colours — RAF, Luftwaffe, USAAF, IJN, Soviet & Italian Model Paint Codes

Paint matches are practical modelling equivalents, not laboratory-perfect claims. Read the paint match note.

Last updated: 2026-05-14. Ratings, paint matches and kit notes are practical modelling guidance and may be revised as better references or modeller feedback are added.

Paint Code Comparison Tool

Search or filter the database, then compare practical modelling equivalents across the main paint providers. These are working modelling matches, not laboratory-perfect matches: always test before committing to a final aircraft finish.

Swatch	Colour / Use	Humbrol	Tamiya	Vallejo	AK Interactive

Focused comparison bench

How to use this on a build

1. Pick aircraft and theatre

A Spitfire in 1940, a Malta Spitfire, and a late-war 2nd TAF aircraft need different paint logic.

2. Choose one paint brand

Do not mix brands blindly. Each range dries differently and shifts under varnish.

3. Scale the colour

For 1/72, slightly lighten dark colours. For 1/48 and 1/32, preserve more contrast.

4. Weather after markings

Dust, exhaust, fading and chipping should match the aircraft’s theatre and operating surface.

WW2 aircraft paint code reference table

A practical reference table for WW2 aircraft paint colours, with common modelling equivalents across Tamiya, Vallejo, AK and Mr Hobby. Use the interactive filters above for quick comparison by nation, theatre or colour system.

WW2 aircraft paint colours covering RAF, USAAF, US Navy, Luftwaffe RLM, IJN, IJAAF, Soviet VVS, Regia Aeronautica and French Armée de l’Air subjects.
Nation / system	Colour	Use	Tamiya	Vallejo	AK	Mr Hobby	Aircraft examples
RAF / Fleet Air Arm	RAF Dark Green	Upper camouflage green	Tamiya XF-81	Vallejo 71.324	AK RC286	Mr Hobby H330	Spitfire, Hurricane, Typhoon, Mosquito
RAF / Fleet Air Arm	Dark Earth	Early-war upper camouflage brown	Tamiya XF-52	Vallejo 71.323	AK RC287	Mr Hobby H72	Hurricane, Spitfire, Battle of Britain aircraft
RAF / Fleet Air Arm	Ocean Grey	Later-war RAF day fighter grey	Tamiya XF-82	Vallejo 71.273	AK RC288	Mr Hobby H335	Spitfire, Typhoon, Mosquito
RAF / Fleet Air Arm	Medium Sea Grey	RAF underside grey	Tamiya XF-83	Vallejo 71.307	AK RC289	Mr Hobby H335	Spitfire, Typhoon, Mosquito
RAF / Fleet Air Arm	Sky Type S	Early-war underside / spinner / band colour	Tamiya XF-21	Vallejo 71.302	AK RC291	Mr Hobby H74	Spitfire, Hurricane
RAF / Fleet Air Arm	Interior Grey-Green	Cockpit/interior colour	Tamiya XF-71	Vallejo 71.305	AK RC293	Mr Hobby H312	RAF cockpits
RAF / Fleet Air Arm	Night Black	Night undersides / props / tyres	Tamiya XF-69	Vallejo 71.057	AK RC022	Mr Hobby H12	Lancaster, night fighters
USAAF / US Navy	Olive Drab	USAAF upper camouflage	Tamiya XF-62	Vallejo 71.043	AK RC023	Mr Hobby H52	P-40, P-47, B-17, B-25
USAAF / US Navy	Neutral Grey	USAAF underside grey	Tamiya XF-53	Vallejo 71.051	AK RC024	Mr Hobby H53	P-40, P-47, B-17
USAAF / US Navy	Interior Green	US cockpit/interior colour	Tamiya XF-5 mix	Vallejo 71.137	AK RC230	Mr Hobby H58/H302	USAAF cockpits
USAAF / US Navy	Zinc Chromate Yellow	Primer / wheel wells where appropriate	Tamiya XF-4	Vallejo 71.094	AK RC262	Mr Hobby H329	US wheel wells/interiors
USAAF / US Navy	Blue Grey	Early US Navy upper colour	Tamiya XF-18 mix	Vallejo 71.114	AK RC255	Mr Hobby H337 mix	Wildcat, Dauntless
USAAF / US Navy	Intermediate Blue	US Navy tri-colour mid-tone	Tamiya XF-18	Vallejo 71.299	AK RC256	Mr Hobby H56	Hellcat, Corsair, Avenger
USAAF / US Navy	Sea Blue / Gloss Sea Blue	US Navy late-war blue	Tamiya XF-17	Vallejo 71.300	AK RC258	Mr Hobby H54	Hellcat, Corsair, Avenger
USAAF / US Navy	Natural Metal / Aluminium	Bare metal finish and details	Tamiya LP-11	Vallejo 77.701	AK Xtreme Metal Aluminium	Mr Hobby SM201	P-51, P-47, B-17
Luftwaffe / RLM	RLM 02 Grau	Cockpit/early camouflage grey-green	Tamiya XF-22	Vallejo 71.044	AK RC273	Mr Hobby H70	Bf 109, Ju 87, early aircraft
Luftwaffe / RLM	RLM 04 Gelb	Yellow theatre markings	Tamiya XF-3	Vallejo 71.078	AK RC267	Mr Hobby H413	Bf 109, Fw 190, Eastern Front
Luftwaffe / RLM	RLM 65 Hellblau	Early underside blue	Tamiya XF-23	Vallejo 71.255	AK RC278	Mr Hobby H67	Bf 109E, He 111, Ju 88
Luftwaffe / RLM	RLM 66 Schwarzgrau	Later cockpit dark grey	Tamiya XF-63	Vallejo 71.055	AK RC314	Mr Hobby H416	Late Luftwaffe cockpits
Luftwaffe / RLM	RLM 70 Schwarzgrün	Props / bomber green	Tamiya XF-27	Vallejo 71.021	AK RC275	Mr Hobby H65	Ju 87, He 111, props
Luftwaffe / RLM	RLM 71 Dunkelgrün	Early upper camouflage green	Tamiya XF-61	Vallejo 71.015	AK RC276	Mr Hobby H64	Bf 109E, bombers
Luftwaffe / RLM	RLM 74 Graugrün	Late-war fighter upper grey-green	Tamiya XF-24 mix	Vallejo 71.258	AK RC279	Mr Hobby H68	Bf 109G, Fw 190
Luftwaffe / RLM	RLM 75 Grauviolett	Late-war fighter upper grey-violet	Tamiya XF-54 mix	Vallejo 71.259	AK RC280	Mr Hobby H69	Bf 109G, Fw 190
Luftwaffe / RLM	RLM 76 Lichtblau	Late-war underside blue-grey	Tamiya XF-23 mix	Vallejo 71.257	AK RC321	Mr Hobby H417	Bf 109G, Fw 190
IJN / IJAAF	IJN Grey / Ame-iro	Early Zero grey/amber-grey	Tamiya XF-76	Vallejo 71.311	AK RC303	Mr Hobby H61/H336 mix	A6M Zero
IJN / IJAAF	IJN Green	Japanese Navy upper green	Tamiya XF-11	Vallejo 71.322	AK RC330	Mr Hobby H59	Zero, Betty, Val
IJN / IJAAF	IJAAF Green	Japanese Army upper green	Tamiya XF-13	Vallejo 71.285	AK RC332	Mr Hobby H60	Ki-43, Ki-61, Ki-84
IJN / IJAAF	Nakajima Interior Green	Japanese cockpit/interior colour	Tamiya XF-71 mix	Vallejo 71.010 mix	AK RC334	Mr Hobby H58 mix	Japanese cockpits
IJN / IJAAF	Aotake Blue-Green	Translucent protective interior finish	Tamiya X-13 over aluminium	Vallejo metallic blue-green mix	AK blue-green mix	Mr Hobby clear mix	Japanese interiors
IJN / IJAAF	Propeller Brown	Japanese propeller colour	Tamiya XF-10	Vallejo 71.041	AK RC035	Mr Hobby H17	Zero, Ki aircraft
Soviet VVS	AMT-4 Green	Soviet upper camouflage green	Tamiya XF-58 mix	Vallejo 71.017 mix	AK RC315	Mr Hobby H303 mix	Yak, La-5, Il-2
Soviet VVS	AMT-6 Black	Soviet disruptive camouflage black	Tamiya XF-69	Vallejo 71.057	AK RC022	Mr Hobby H12	Yak, La-5, Il-2
Soviet VVS	AMT-7 Blue	Soviet underside blue	Tamiya XF-23 mix	Vallejo 71.318	AK RC317	Mr Hobby H45 mix	Yak, La-5, Il-2
Soviet VVS	A-14 Steel Grey	Soviet cockpit/interior grey	Tamiya XF-53	Vallejo 71.054	AK RC318	Mr Hobby H53	VVS cockpits
Soviet VVS	Winter Whitewash	Temporary winter distemper	Tamiya XF-2 thinned	Vallejo 71.001	AK washable white	Mr Hobby H1	Eastern Front winter aircraft
Regia Aeronautica	Giallo Mimetico	Italian sand/yellow camouflage	Tamiya XF-59 mix	Vallejo 71.028 mix	AK Italian sand equivalent	Mr Hobby H71 mix	Macchi, Fiat, Reggiane
Regia Aeronautica	Verde Mimetico	Italian green mottle/smoke rings	Tamiya XF-58 / XF-67	Vallejo 71.012 / 71.022	AK Italian green equivalent	Mr Hobby H303 mix	Macchi C.202, C.205
Regia Aeronautica	Marrone Mimetico	Italian brown camouflage	Tamiya XF-64 / XF-52	Vallejo 71.041 / 71.029	AK Italian brown equivalent	Mr Hobby H37 mix	Italian camouflage
Regia Aeronautica	Grigio Azzurro Chiaro	Italian underside grey-blue	Tamiya XF-19 / XF-23 mix	Vallejo 71.046 mix	AK Italian grey-blue equivalent	Mr Hobby H338 mix	Italian undersides
Regia Aeronautica	Bianco Avorio / White Bands	Theatre bands and ID markings	Tamiya XF-2	Vallejo 71.001	AK RC004	Mr Hobby H1	Mediterranean theatre bands
French Armée de l’Air	French Khaki / Vert	French upper camouflage green/khaki	Tamiya XF-49 / XF-58 mix	Vallejo 71.016 mix	AK French green route	Mr Hobby H80 mix	Dewoitine D.520
French Armée de l’Air	Brun / Terre	French upper camouflage brown	Tamiya XF-52 / XF-64 mix	Vallejo 71.029	AK French brown route	Mr Hobby H72 mix	Dewoitine D.520
French Armée de l’Air	Gris Bleu Foncé	French upper blue-grey	Tamiya XF-18 / XF-24 mix	Vallejo 71.109 mix	AK French blue-grey	Mr Hobby H42 mix	Dewoitine D.520
French Armée de l’Air	Gris Bleu Clair	French underside light blue-grey	Tamiya XF-23 / XF-2 mix	Vallejo 71.046 mix	AK French underside grey	Mr Hobby H314 mix	Dewoitine D.520

Useful routes

Popular build guides

Useful entry routes into kits, paints, techniques and theatre-led WW2 aircraft builds.

Build routePaint conversion chartCross-brand equivalents in one route.Build routeRAF paint codesRAF camouflage and interior colours.Build routeRLM 74 / 75 / 76Late-war Luftwaffe fighter colours.Build routeZero paint coloursIJN Zero colours and weathering notes.Build routeSoviet VVS coloursEastern Front paint and winter finishes.

Trust and methodology

Project notes

How the site is built, how ratings are judged, and how to suggest corrections.

Project pageAbout WW2 ModellerWhat the project is and why it exists.Project pageHow ratings are decidedHow kit ratings and difficulty labels are judged.Project pageSources and referencesHow references, paint notes and kit routes are built.Project pagePaint match disclaimerWhy paint matches are practical equivalents.Project pageCorrections and contributionsHow to suggest fixes, sources or better recommendations.

WW2 aircraft paint colours and model paint codes

Paint Codes