@Sladenyv Hi Daniel, this might be of interest.
- The Bare Panzers in Red Oxide Primer Myth was Busted by well know and highly credible researcher Thomas Jentz. He created the Red Oxide hypothesis. There was an translation issue with original source material that was the bedrock of the misunderstanding that became the Red Oxide myth.
Here’s a nice summary with discussion and some details.
Missing Lynx: exposed-red-oxide-primer-t-l-jentz-publications
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Allied Strategic Bombing wasn’t particularly effective or accurate. German war production rose in 1944 generally speaking. If red oxide primer was available its likely that other paint was available as well since the materials for the paints were available generally speaking from with in Germany.
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The so-called sources that claim red oxide primer panzer rolled into battle month after month on a daily basis leaned heavily on Jentz’s work and his hypothesis because they didn’t do much if any actual research themselves in the majority of cases.
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Luftwaffe was still able to paint aircraft so obviously Germany still had an ability to make paint. You can bet the Wehrmacht & SS were going to get paint of some sort if the Luftwaffe had access to paint.
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It’s German WW2 AFV’s, everything we know has to be turned upside down ever so often because:
a) a rare person like Jentz does the hard work and research
b) a lazy bastard wants to sell some something
Ultimately, even though I think based on available information the whole red oxide primer panzer rolling into battle is hogwash, I think they can still look cool and I’d like to try painting one someday. I really like the model shown below.
