RLM 81/82 – More secrets unveiled

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Clint Mitchell

Could the term 'Nachdunkeln' when used in this sense be translated as 'dulling [=de-saturation]' (with time)? Fading...? or 'mattes' over time?

I agree that the basic translation of "darkening" doesn't really fit what you would expect (i.e. colours usually fade) and maybe there is another sense of the word, or the wrong word was used (human error is always a possibility).

On another point, what earthly use was paint that lasted years on a combat aircraft that would be lucky to last weeks? This sounds like a peacetime standard which may of course not have been adapted to suit wartime conditions; once something is in a book of regulations it can be hard to change.