What color(s) were German mess tins?

[2nd Bat]

I am sure the mess tins I have are greiviously wrong and would cause heart stoppages at events but they look Kraut to me. They are however a medium grey which makes me think East German, post war. To make them less conspicuous what color or colors would render them less obviously wrong? 43 on, for Western Europe?

[Dracul]

In all fairness, the only main differences between the war-time ones and the E. German ones was how the swivel handle attached to the sides of it, and an extra bit of metal, on the same hinge piece as the middle handle, that had a slit for the mess kit strap. The color and the third, insert piece, is negligible since you are coloring them and you won't see the insert when all closed up (or you can just store it away else where).

Anyway, for the colors. Your best bet is field grey, like the buckles. It was seen throughout all the war. While I've read something (trying to re-find it) about the Germans switching colors of paint, it absolutely did not mean they repainted all the earlier issued ones and the earlier issued ones just mysteriously vanished the day they switched over to the new one.

Again, I highly suggest Hessen Antique's field grey spray paint. Stuff is really legit and for the what you are painting, it will last you a long while.

[insterburger]

To expand a bit on what Drac said, in the early war the mess kits were "apple green" and I'm sure there were plenty of these still clanking around Europe in 1945. The paint did get switched out from that to Feldgrau, which could vary from a fairly deep gray to almost an OD green.

Given your situation, I honestly wouldn't worry about repainting the East German mess kits. The color may not be quite right, but taken in the context of the standards you're using in the NW they're not (IMHO) worth futzing with.

[2nd Bat]

Good to know. Paint is easy so if there was something worth doing I would. With 99% of WW2 pictures in B&W its really tough to thing of all things German as being Black and Grey!

[Dracul]

I'd say paint them. The grey on most of the E. German mess kits are pretty far off. Painting them is simple and will have a great effect with good color, even if its a little part of it the kit.

Buuuuut thats only if you plan to issue these out as loaner kits for them to have on their breadbags when gaming. If you are just giving them just to have to use in garrison, tent/camping sites, etc, then I wouldn't worry about doing it.

[insterburger]

Drac, for the record I'm in full agreement. Just recognizing the fact that 2nd Bat is outfitting masses of troops, and has limited resources to do so. While ideally the DDR tins should be repainted, the color is not so bad as to be "conspicuous," and the possibility exists that the money and time spent on that could go toward fixing other more obvious infidelities.

[schmitz]

actually, there was an order issued 22. April, 1941 which changed drinking cups on canteens from black to olive green and mess tins from Feldgrau to olive green. mp44.nl/equipment/field_bottle.htm - about halfway down is the order and the translation. And here is most of what you'd need to know about mess tins - mp44.nl/equipment/mess_tin.htm

[2nd Bat]

Very helpful. Eventually Id love to have sufficient US mess kits and German mess tins to issue all participants as collective chow at events (with simulated mail call) is always a cool part of events. At present Im not there so the half dozen German mess tins are additional eye candy on the impressions. For that reason Id like them to showcase as good as they can. Realistically im sure some of the early issue items never got the repaint so a mix of canteen cup colors and mess tins is what I will go for.

Thanks for all the input guys. Painting is easy.

[insterburger]

Thanks Schmitz, I had always assumed those were just variations on a theme.

[2nd Bat]

Good to know. Paint is easy so if there was something worth doing I would. With 99% of WW2 pictures in B&W its really tough to not think of all things German as Black and Grey! The photos of all the assorted canteens encourage me that mine look better than I thought! It's also cool to see the proper way to attach them to the breadbasket. In actual pictures its obvious that standards were not always adhered to and clearly frontline soldiers adjusted things according to what worked for them.

Too often at airsoft events participants do everything they can to go "high speed" and streamline their look to the minimum. Unfortunately that tarnishes the visual impact and for players their authenticity experience. It will be interesting to see how much grumbling there will be with the gear that gets issued and how hard it will be to keep it all on them.

Soldiers of course rarely have the luxury of stripping down to bare minimum as breadbags, canteens, extra ammo, e tools etc have to stay with you most of the time. Special patrols being one of the only exceptions

[schmitz]

No problem. That's a really good site and answers most questions about German equipment. I guess overall up to '43 you'd be seeing OD 'soviet' green, feldgrau, or just paintless as they were aluminum and the paint wore off pretty quickly...

[2nd Bat]

I painted most (though not all) and added artificial aging to show the bare metal shine through which adds to the visual authenticity and matches more closely what I typically see in pictures.

I am happy with the effect. Thanks for all the help on this. My goal of having 12 complete uniform sets for my OPFOR is not quite realized but getting closer all the time.