In the end of May, Stalin ordered a commission to trace detailed instructions for camouflage schemes within 3 days.

The brief document included two schemes for black and green camouflage, one for single-engined planes and one for twin-engined ones.

These schemes show the planes from above and from the left side, while the right side was left to free interpretation.

The soft edges of the bands had relevance in the prevailing theories of camouflaging.

Yak-1 fighters factories introduced the standardized black/green camouflage even before June 1941.

Left:

a photos above shows early Yak-1s with the standard camo pattern.

The second photo show an early Yak-1 with the reversed camouflage: green and black bands were exchanged between them.

The third photo shows a Yak-1b, recognizable for its bubble canopy, in 1943. Its camouflage looks to follow accurately the NKAP standard scheme.

Yak-7

Yak-7s usually respected the standard template, with some variations as for the 'loop' visible on the wings of the planes of the first photo. This line of planes shows an high standardization of the pattern, that is somewhat different from the NKAP template because of the 'loops' over the wings.

The plane below shows another interpretation of the scheme.

These images of a Yak-9 show another variation of the pattern, differing not only for the loops on the wings but for the tail and the right side of the rear fuselage, not drawn on the sketch of NKAP.

photo of early 4-50 LaGG-3 of 1941 with standard scheme.

LaGG-3 of mid production (series 35) downed by Finns. Again, its painting is fully standard.

Factory where LaGG-3s and La-5s were produced in parallel in 1942. The main body of the plane is painted before the engine cowling panels and other parts. The light color on the cowling panels should be ALG-1 yellowish primer.

LaGG-3s produced after the war outbreak had a standardized camouflage that respected well the NKAP template; the main difference was that LaGG had usually three black bands (instead of two) on the right wing and two (instead of three) on the left wing.

Bort numbers were painted in not standardized characters.

La-5, early La-5F and FN had the same camouflage of LaGG-3.

Bort numbers, always of two digits, were painted in standardized white characters.

La-5 n.66 with the inscription 'eskadrilya Valeriy Chkalov on its side. The camouflage is fully standard, apart for the lighter repainting on the green of the cowling.

Right:

Photo of La-5F with the standard green-black camo and the inscription 'Eskadrilya Valeriy Chkalow'. Only few La-5F left the production lines with this livery, because they turned soon to the grey camo scheme of 1943/45. On the background, a La-5 with the same painting is visible.

Very rare photo of La-5FN n.57 with green/black scheme and probably red nose. About all La-5FN appear with the later grey/grey scheme.

The number is already standardized on the large size typical of later production La-5FN and La-7, probably with thin dark blue outline.

MiG-3s didn't follow accurately the standard template, but they have a predominant factory scheme anyway, followed with many variations. This is probably because the nose is longer than the Yak shown on the template and requires one more green band, while the rear fuselage is shorter and hasn't space for the black half-ball traced on Yaks.

The painting over the wings could sometimes be snake-shaped, but it's usually made with nearly parallel band passing from the leading edge to the back edge.

The contrast shown in photos is usually much lower than on Yaks and Lavochkins, and this could be due to the use of a very thin layer of black over green, that could have given the look of greenish black on many planes.

Sometimes MiG-3s cowling panels and spinners were painted black, perhaps to improve the cooling of the engine by irradiation.

The camouflage of the Il-2s, both singleseaters and twoseaters, depends on the factory, and is a distinctive characteristic that often allows to understand where an Il-2 was built.

Just after the war outbreak, the camouflage was not standardized, but changed much from plane to plane; probably this is particularly true for the planes built after the war with green livery and updated by painting black bands.

This single-seater Il-2 shows a camo scheme different by that of the standard template. Note the huge black-outlined star on the fuselage, and the smaller one on its tail, that are very characteristics of planes (downed) in July-August 1941.

Around September 1941, the pattern of Zavod 18 evolved into a characteristic black 'amoeba' on both the sides of the tail, a characteristic that remained recognizable up to the summer 1943.

The left wing had often three longitudinal bands, while the right wing had a black 'tree' with two or three branches reaching the leading edge and one the back edge. The thin white outline around the stars was distinctive of this factory.

Zavod 1 had a characteristic pattern on the most part of its production, without making difference between singleseaters and twoseaters.

A single known case of 'reversed' camouflage was seen on a photo of IL-2KR (spot artillery plane) built by this factory.

Il-2s built in Zavod 30 in Moscow resumed the NKAP template as those built in Z.18 in July/August 1941.

This pattern has two main variants: one with a black 'half-ball' on each side of the fuselage, under the stars, and another without the half-ball, with a black band going from the tail to the mid of the rear fuselage.

To know much more, go to the Il-2 page

This plane is a Su-2 M-88 in artillery plane versions. Its black-green camo scheme strictly resembles the standard template.

Unfortunately this is the only well-documented Su-2 with this scheme.

All other photos of Su-2 show patterns strongly changing from plane to plane, and it's impossible to trace a standard pattern or extrapolate anything of the painting of a plane from photos of other ones.

The very first camouflage scheme of the Yak-6 was black and green, in full coherence with the use of 1942

.

In bw photos, this camouflage resembled as the black-green one, also because the contrast between the AMT-4 green and the third color (probably AMT-1 light brown in an early, greyish variant) is very low. In most cases, the lighter color seems to replace part of the green of a previous 2 shades camo without covering the black part.

There are photos showing an 'inverted' camo where black replaces the green and vice versa, and again part of the green is replaced by the lighter shade.

To know more, go to the Yak-6 page.

According to photographic records, the vast majority of Yak-6 operative after the fall of 1942 bore a 3 shaded camouflage, much before this was officialized by NKAP in July 1943.

These images shows well the standard black-green camo scheme of Pe-2s of 1941-43. Some planes had sharp bands, some other ones blurred, but the good standardization of the pattern is evident.

The pattern can be considered a reinterpretation of the standard template where the side 'half-balls' are transformed into a band passing over the fuselage. The black paint of the spinner could extend briefly over the engine cowlings. The upper camouflage could extend more downward on the cowling sides.

To know more, go to the Pe-2/Pe-3 page.

About the colors: theoretically, metal parts were painted with oil paints: green A-24m, black A-26m and light blue A-28m, while the fabric-covered parts of control surfaces were painted with the equivalent nitro paints green AMT-4, black AMT-6 and light blue AMT-7 (or AII light blue).

Observing wartime photos, my impression is the lack of discontinuity of the shades and bands between the metal-skinned parts and the fabric-skinned control surfaces suggests that the nitro colors were employed for all the surfaces of many planes.

In 1942/43, the undersurfaces of the planes were repainted with 'noch' deep black for night operations.

To know more and see lots of images of TB-7/Pe-8, click here.

In 1941/43, Pe-8s were camouflaged with a variant of the 1941 template of NKAP, adapted for the major size of the plane with some more black bands both on fuselage and on the wings. The pattern was roughly standardized.

These images allow to compare the resemblances and differences between some planes of the same type.

Here is the template that I obtained from photos, taking into account the variability between single planes. It fits enough the sketch of NKAP. The main differences between single planes were about the extension of black to the engine cowlings, or not.

Il-4s were all-metal planes, so they were finished with oil paints A-24m green, A-26m black and A-28m light blue, except for the rudder and elevators that , being fabric-skinned, were finished with AMT-4 green, AMT-6 black and AMT-7 or AII light blue.

Discontinuities of the camouflage are visible between these parts and the metallic parts of the tail, so wide and usual that can be considered a standard.

At the beginning of the war, the undersurfaces of Il-4s were finished in light blue, but in 1942/43 they started to be painted with Mk-8 or 'Noch', that was darker than the black paints utilized for the upper camouflage.

Green-nosed Il-4s in factory. Undersurfaces are light blue. Note the discontinued camouflage on the rudders.

Green-nosed Il-4 with 'noch' undersurfaces, clearly darker than the black of camouflage.

Black-nosed Il-4s. Note the discontinuities in the painting of rudder.

Red stars on the tail and fuselage were relatively small and usually of the plain type; often the stars on fuselage were missing.

To see lots of photos and drawings, go to the Il-4 page

The camo scheme for 1941-43 Il-4 is standardized into two variants; probably, each one is relative to a factory where the type was built.

1- green- nose, characterized by a large black band on the rear fuselage;

2- black nose, with a fully green rear fuselage and wing root black bands extended on the sides, and often with green engines. Sometimes, the black bands on wing roots extends to the engines or up till behind the canopy.

Note that these patterns are not respected by planes built before the war outbreak, even when they were repainted with the black-green camouflage.

Yer-2

Yer-2s 2M-105 were all-metal planes, so they should have been finished with oil paints A-24m green, A-26m black and A-28m light blue, except for the rudder and elevators that, being fabric-skinned, were finished with AMT-4 green, AMT-6 black and AMT-7 or AII light blue.

The semiglossy look of the planes on some photos and the absence of discontinuities in the camouflage of the movable surfaces suggest that the nitro paints were employed on all the external surfaces.

At the beginning of the war, the undersurfaces Yer-2s were finished in light blue, but in 1942/43 they started to be painted with Mk-8 or 'Noch', that was darker than the black paints utilized for the upper camouflage.

The pattern of the camouflage is standardized, and very similar to that employed on Pe-2s.

This template, although provisionally traced on a drawing of the late Yer-2 with ATch-30B engines, is well representative of the earlier version with 2M105 and asymmetric cockpit.

To know more, go to the Yer-2 page

The first production Tu-2 ( VS and S) were completed in February 1942 in factory 168 in Omsk.

On October 1942, it was ordered to stop the production, and the 80th and last plane was delivered in January 1943.

The production of Tu-2 was restarted in July/August 1943 at Factory n.23 in Moscow with the improved Tu-2S

Tu-2VS n. 100716 in standard black-green livery utilized in 1942. Note the white or silver outlined star on the tail, and the lack of stars on fuselage (present on some other planes).

On the whole, the template of early Tu-2 of 1942 resembles very much the standard one for Pe-2s.

Some photos and drawing suggest the existence of a reverse pattern, where green replaced black and vice versa, but their interpretation is questionable.

To know more, go to the Tu-2 page

Being U-2 a mixed construction plane, the standard black-green camouflage was made with nitro paints: AMT-4 green. AMT-6 black and AMT-7 light blue, or AII light blue.

From a preliminary examination of available images, it seems that Po-2s camouflages were standardized on two different patterns: one characterized by nearly symmetrical 'half-ball' bands on the fuselage sides (first photo), and one by oblique bands that cut the fuselage sides in all their vertical extension (second photo).

The UT-2M was put into production in 1941; it differed from earlier UT-2 mainly because of the adoption of an arrow wing and a wider stabilizer/rudder that gave to the new version better and safer flight characteristics.

Being a mixed-construction plane, the UT-2M was painted with nitro paints AMT-4 green, AMT-6 black and AMT-7 blue (or AII light blue).

Known photos of UT-2M show a good conformity of their pattern to the template of 1941.

Li-2s of 1941-43 look to conform to a main template with green background and large bands of black: one on the upper part of tail, one on the rear fuselage, one on all the aft fuselage. Red stars are always visible on the rudder, while their use on the fuselage side is optional.

A variant of the camo pattern features four transversal bands on the tail and fuselage.

To know more, go to the Li-2 page.

In past years, the standard camouflage of fighters has been interpreted as green and dark red-brown, or dark green/dark earth as British planes.

Although this camouflage found a great credit in books illustrations, kits instructions sheets and even in restoring planes in museums, it seems that this livery never existed: none wreck and originally-painted museum exhibit shows this, nor is described in official documents on painting wartime planes, nor is known a dark red-brown suitable to match these schemes in the VVS inventory.

A 'tobacco' paint was experimentally produced in late 1940/early 1941, but it's not mentioned in any directive to camouflage planes, so it's likely that it was never utilized, if not for some test planes.

How was the legend of green and red brown born? Difficult to say. It is ancient, because I remember a green/red brown drawing already on the blister of the Yak-9 of Airfix in the late '60s. Probably, some artist heard from recalls of veterans that some Soviet planes were green and brown, had a look to b/w photos showing black/green planes, compared them to all-green planes and concluded that the brown had to be the darker color. Let's admit this, the use of black on camouflages is not so intuitive, particularly if this black is not as dark as usual black and looks some other dark color.

Some wrecks could have helped the legend of dark brown. For example, this photo of a wrecked wing of Il-2 gives really the idea of a dark green/dark earth camouflaged plane. The small and faded grey blotch can easily pass unobserved. Weathering has inverted the real contrast between colors if compared to their original shades, when the grey was the darker one and the brow the lighter one.

This doesn't mean necessarily that none Soviet plane was ever painted with red brown bands, it would be impossible to demonstrate this, but simply that there is not any reason to think that this color was utilized.

It can't be excluded that some planes wear a two-color camouflage of green AMT-4 and light brown AMT-1, without the dark grey AMT-11 that should be associated to them by the three-shades after-1943 standards; however, this is still object of controversy. I's noteworthy that often AMT-4 and 11 are undistinguishable on bw photos, and when they are distinguishable it's controversial which one is the darker.

Green/dark green camouflage was proposed by some authors. How does this comply with available documents?

At present time, there are not documents proving this use, even if a lot of photos of planes show so low-contrasted camouflages that it's hard to believe that the darker color is black.

However, the look of photos can be influenced by many factors as the type of film, the light, the exposure, the preservation of colors and the use of filters on the objective of the camera.

Here are four photos of LaGG-3 n.57 captured by Finns. Despite being relative to the same plane, note how the colors are represented with different contrast; this could encourage discordant interpretation on colors, and even on the presence of the red stars.

Even if AII dark green, proposed by some authors, looks not confirmed by any document, the occasional use of different shades of green, taken from the inventory or obtained by mixing colors, can't be completely excluded.

Some veterans have described camouflages with different shades of green, dark green or black green. They could be wrong, but we can't be sure of this.

However, the overposition of a thin layer of black to a green background could give the impression of a green/black-green camouflage to a witness.

A section of fuselage from a LaGG-3 preserved in a Finnish museum.

Here we can see the camouflage made with not too faded AMT-4, 6 and 7, and the plain star painted with gloss AII red.

The yellowish color is of the underlying nitro putty.

(Image courtesy of Martti Kujansuu)

Below: a b/w version of the same photo, showing the poor contrast between colors.

This piece of metal wing from a two-seater Il-2 shows a black/green camouflage .

No any yellow primer is visible under the camouflage paints, so it's likely that they are A-24m and A-26m oil paints, because AMT nitro lacquers would have required a primed background to adhere on metal surfaces.

(color labels by Konstantin Lesnikov)

Below: a b/w version of the same image showing the poor contrast between weathered colors.

This image is from a wreck of a Pe-2 lost in september 1941 near Leningrad. Note the surprising grey undersurface.

http://trizna.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=31223

Many Yaks seem to show a particularly high-contrasted camo. The reason of a so high percentage of contrasted images, when compared to other types that hardly show contrast in photos, is unclear.

Someone suggested the use of a lighter shade of green (ex. tractor green) or desert-style camos, but there is no any confirmation of this in documents and exhibits, even if it is fully compatible with some photos.

Besides, in Nakrasok alboom of 1948 there is no any chip of green for agricultural equipments compatible with the supposed shade.

The use of only one layer of green (instead of two) on a yellowish background and, on the other side, the sharp edges and the semiglossy finish of the black bands could help to explain this high contrast.