War Paint

The "proper" Spitfire - Mk I, Summer 1940, Battle of Britain

        Colour references:

• Dark Earth (Humbrol HB2)
• Dark Green (Humbrol HB1)
• Sky (Humbrol HB5)
• Insignia Red (Humbrol HU153)
• Oxford Blue (Humbrol HU104)
• Insignia Yellow (Humbrol HU154) 
• Ensin White

266 Squadron Colours
I had not been able to determine with any accuracy the belly color applied to the 266 Squadrons Spitfires in August 1940  or if  Frank Cales Spitfire even had the single squadron prefix applied. The video link [0.41 sec] above supports the reply received from the RAF Museum that at that time most only carried the squadron marking.

The image above gives three [3] possibilities the sky green of the 2010 display aircraft to grey or sky blue. A chance viewing of a colour video called the Spitfire Documentary  [18.10 sec] showed that the under belly was most likely Sky Grey for a number of reason but put simply the weight saving from just applying Satin clear over grey etch primer has appeal.

The plan is to spray the underside grey etch primer then the top side in beige etch primer and finally the Earth and Green colour. 

One of the other issues is to obtain a soft edge and this will be tackled by applying string under the edge of the tape to hold it up and provide a round edge - reading has shown this works well in large scale models and if we regard the Tucano as a large stand off scale model, it should work.

At this time the use of decals for the roundels and tri color on the tail is an open issue.

This is not till next year but the decision has to be made. I will be spraying the aircraft myself for simple economic reasons and am currently digging through the RV blogs to see how they have tackled the task. 

It will be 2 - pack sprayed with a HVLP sprayer in a homemade plastic spray booth built in the hangar. I am looking at the idea of suspending the aircraft from my electric hoist on the roof with a custom spreader to lift it up for access to the underside. Spraying upside down on your back is akin to uphand welding - strictly for the experts.

Back to the wings, fuel line seats etc etc ........