Prototype Spitfire color

[Orion Field]

I am having trouble finding the right color for my prototype spit. I try to use ModelMaster Enamels when possible, can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Flankerman]

You may as well ask "How long is a piece of string"..................

This one comes up regulary - with answers ranging from 'Cerulean Blue' to 'Supermarine Grey' - and a Rolls Royce coachbuiding colour in between, IIRC.

Other more knowledgeable posters will reply - but don't expect a definitive answer.

Ken

[Orion Field]

I guess I can't tell if its blue or gray...

[Edgar]

It was both, with unpainted, and camouflaged, thrown in for good measure.

K5054 started unpainted, though the specification called for the metal to be anodized, and parts, while awaiting the first flight, do appear to be a darkish colour, possibly green.

Next, it was painted by Rolls-Royce, and here's where the guesses run riot, including, as Ken says, a R-R coach-building colour, only, in 1936, R-R didn't build their own bodies, just suppled engines and chassis. Mitchell's son named it cerulean blue (but not capitalised, so it's likely to be a description, not a name.) At that time R-R had an in-house colour, with which all their vehicles were painted, and it was matched to the blue of the Mediterranean sky.

Next came a grey (when the R-R colour began to crack and peel off,) and, again, it's pure guesswork as to the shade, but Supermarine did have their colour for seaplanes, so it's as good a guess as any.

Finally, it was painted in green/brown/silver camouflage (unlikely to have had the Service black/white undersides, and definitely not Sky.)

Doesn't leave you much further forward, does it? Sorry.

Edgar

Edited April 2, 2012 by Edgar

[DonSS3]

I'm not saying that my guess is any bit better than anyone else's, but I remember seeing something "somewhere" that led me to use Modelmaster's RLM-76:

Tamiya's 1/48 Spitfire I converted using the Paragon conversion (I lost Paragon's prop so, substituted an Aeroclub resin prop) and Ventura decals.

More photos (including some in-progress photos) here if anyone's interested:

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/DDonSS3/Built%20Models/Spitfire%20Prototype/

[Jennings]

Ooooh... this one ought to get good! :)

[Phil marchese]

I was just in the just completed forum and there is a March 3 posting of an A/F-18 Hornet. A very nice build. There are three pictures and the lighting gives three different perceptions of the color that set an interesting perspective for this post.

[Edgar]

Not really, since there are no colour photos of K5054, so you're into the territory of trying to decipher black and white photos, taken 75+ years ago, with unknown cameras, unknown film, unknown development systems, no idea if any filters were used, and no idea of the paper on which they were printed. In other words, everybody (including me) is reduced to guesswork, so it's pointless anyone getting all worked up about it; John Beaman gave me some good advice, when I asked him about a particular P-51, when he said, "Nobody knows for sure, so paint it what you think is right, and challenge others to prove you wrong."

Edgar

[Jay Chladek]

I remember reading somewhere that a model of K5054 was built at about the same time the full size aircraft was built as a presentation either to Mitchell or somebody else on the Supermarine team and it still exists and was painted with the same paint stock. So supposedly a couple of the replicas in the UK (non flying ones) on display in museums were painted to match that color when they were made in the 1980s. Of course, who knows if the coloring is exactly the same or if it aged somewhat in the passing years. I have to go digging through my own stack of references to see what the consensus was as to the closest color match. But I will say at a glance, RLM-76 looks kind of close as it is sort of a sky blue with grayish tinge (would have been perfect camouflage for typical UK cloudy skies IMHO). It "might" be a little bluer in shade though.

Model Master PRU blue mixed with a lot of white might do it (or a mix of Azure Blue and white perhaps). It is probably going to be a matter of "mix it until it looks right to you" though rather than a definitive answer.

[Jason C-C]

I remember reading somewhere that a model of K5054 was built at about the same time the full size aircraft was built as a presentation either to Mitchell or somebody else on the Supermarine team and it still exists and was painted with the same paint stock. So supposedly a couple of the replicas in the UK (non flying ones) on display in museums were painted to match that color when they were made in the 1980s. Of course, who knows if the coloring is exactly the same or if it aged somewhat in the passing years.

The replica of K5054 at the Tangemere Aviation Museum is supposed to have been matched to the model mentioned above. This was in the posession, if I recall correctly, of RJ Mitchell's son.

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/449825.html

cheers,

Jason

[Stona]

would have been perfect camouflage for typical UK cloudy skies IMHO

Nah! Bright blue and blazing sunshine.....hang on,just looked out my window,grey overcast with light drizzle,never mind.

Cheers

Steve

[Phil marchese]

Edgar ...you drew way more out of my post than was intended. So just consider it withdrawn. Look at the value difference in this postt of the same build. Point is light causes shift in previced colors and thus eye witness accounts might vary for just that reason besides the progression delineated above. The better phase is I want to meet the guy who can prove me wrong for it is illogical to prove a negative. Agree in the sentiment however.

[Edgar]

Sorry, Phil, I wasn't aiming at you in particular, it's just that I've seen so many discussions, on K5054, in which someone will bring forth a deep, meaningful treatise on how you can tell what colour it was, because...........

Anyone, who's done photography before the days of digital cameras, will tell you that it's complete nonsense; even colour photography was not immune, since the printing process could be very convoluted. I have two copies of the same colour photo of Spitfires in the desert; in one they're brown and sand, and in the other green and sand.

Edgar

[DonSS3]

And you can see the color effect you're talking about in my photos. The first one shows more blue, than the other two. Just different lights were on when I took the photos.

Actually, the first photo shows a transition in the hues, when it's actually all the same color (colour?). I don't know that RLM 76 is correct, but it made as much sense to me as anything else I've seen.

[colour]

anodize Is not difficult,versatility colour.