At the beginning of WW2 the triumphant Luftwaffe's fighter aircraft were usually painted in various tones grey and grey-greens on their upper sides with just the apex of the fuselage spine darkened with these colours, which were sometimes drawn down the light blue fuselage sides in various light mottles. This camouflage was designed for combat in the higher atmosphere and over the sea.
Later, as their machines spent far more time on the ground because of logistical shortages and became subject to more frequent low-level attacks, they moved over to using browns and greens in their top camouflage (sometimes quite garish too) with solid colour now covering the fuselage sides and not just the spine
