Tiger I Information Center

Tiger I Paint Schemes

In June of 1940 a general order was issued that stipulated all Panzers were to be painted dark grey (Dunkelgrau). This order was still in effect when the Tigers were initially deployed in August 1942, thus the very first Tiger I's were painted dark grey.

In areas where winter camouflage was needed, the crews applied whitewash. When spring came, the crews had to scrub the whitewash off. This was a tedious, labor intensive chore.

In February 1943, a general order came down to change the base coat from dark grey to tan (Dunkelgelb nach Muster). Crews were issued cans of red brown (Rotbraun) and dark olive green (Olivgruen) to use in creating camouflage patterns.

Some tigers were coated with the Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine coating starting in July 1943. This paste was applied in recognizable grooved patterns and the paint was applied over the top of the coating. Vehicles coated with Zimmerit have a distinctive rough look to their surface.

Camouflage patterns varied from unit to unit, as did the placement and coloring of the vehicle numbers. Some examples are presented below.

All illustrations by Jean Restayn.
Special thanks to Mr.Restayn for graciously allowing the use of his beautiful illustrations.

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