DAF RAF Tomahawk Ib Colors

[Cameron Lynch]

Ok, I'm ready to start painting my first Airfix 1/48 Tomahawk.  I'm planning on doing it in markings for Killer Caldwells' 250 Squadron machine LD-C AK498 from Aero Imageworks Desert Shark Attack sheet.  What I do know...it was in some sort of RAF tropical scheme of DE/Midstone/Azure.  I've got dueling references and I'm scratching my head a little bit on the whole thing.  My primary references for this are the excellent booklet included in the Aero Imageworks decals, Ian K Baker's Aviation History Coloring Book 51 P-40 Camouflage Special, Dana Bell's article Curtiss camouflage schemes for RAF P-40s in Finescale Modeler from January 1995 and lastly Dana Bell's Aviation Color Primers #1 US Export Colors of WWII.  What I'm not concerned about are matching the colors...either they are in the DuPont export colors or they are in RAF paint.  I'm trying to figure out which...and whether I'm using a hard edge or feathered edge camouflage.

 

The theories.

 

Theory #1 suggested by the Aero Imageworks booklet.  The DAF Tomahawks were delivered in the hard edged Curtiss factory export Temperate Scheme of DuPont 71-065 (Dark Earth) and DuPont 71-013 (Dark Green) over DuPont 71-021 (Sky grey).  In early August 1941 the DuPont 71-013 Dark Green had been overpainted in the field with RAF Middlestone.  This was sprayed freehand with wide feathering at the edged of the Middlestone.  The area behind the rear cockpit windows were also repainted.  Repainting the underside with RAF Azure Blue was left until time permitted.  This seems to be a rational theory.  There are some photos that clearly show (Page 13 of the Ian Baker book) a Tomahawk with very soft edged hand painted schemes.

 

Theory #2 suggested by Dana Bell in Finescale Modeler January 1995.  The DAF Tomahawks were delivered from the Curtiss Factory in the hard edged Tropical Scheme with the DuPont 71-065 (Dark Earth) and DuPont 71-069 (match for Middlestone) over DuPont 71-062 (match for Azure).  Clearly later Kittyhawk/Warhawk variants were delivered in this scheme...but were the initial batch of Tomahawks that were supplied to 112 and 250 Squadrons in 1941 in this scheme?  It appears that most if not all of the 112 Squadron Tomahawks were in a factory hard edged scheme...but are they in the DG/DE/Sky temperate scheme using DuPont paints?

 

Theory  #3 suggested by Ian Baker in AHCB 51.  The "first" DAF Tomahawks were delivered in a freehand disruptive scheme of DuPont Dark Green and DuPont Dark Earth over DuPont Sky (Aircraft Grey).  In the narrative Baker doesn't seem to explain when, how or with what colors the "first" Tomahawks were repainted into the RAF Tropical scheme colors...but in his caption for a photo on page 13 he does suggest the Tomahawk pictured has been repainted on the upper surfaces with "Light Earth" over the Dark Green portion of the disruptive scheme.  He suggests that the undersides remain the factory light grey.  In the narrative Baker believes that later RAF and USAAF desert Kittyhawks were delivered from the factory in a hard edged tropical scheme using a full set of DuPont equivalents.

 

Thoughts?  Ideas?  Suggestions?.  What do you find most persuasive?  Thanks in advance.

 

Cameron

 

 

[Graham Boak]

Three points I have seen made here and elsewhere

1. The full name of the Dupont colour 71-021, used on P-40s, was "Sky Type S Grey".  Definitely not Sky Grey, which was a different colour, and not Aircraft Grey.  The colour is a variant of Sky: there has been several attempts to describe the difference, with scorn applied when the descriptions have somehow been inadequate, so I won't attempt another.

2. Curtiss are one of the few companies confirmed as using mats (of some kind) to paint the camouflage.  Therefore aircraft still in the factory scheme had hard-edged patterns.

3. On early Desert Scheme aircraft the serial can clearly be seen to have been painted around and still on a rectangle of a different, presumably original, colour.

 

I'd also suggest, from memory, that photos of 3 RAAF Sq might also be helpful, in showing aircraft still in the original Temperate Land colours and having been repainted into the Desert.

 

Light Earth was reportedly used in this way in 1939/40, although on study many photos simply suggest a faded Temperate Land scheme without any reversal of the light/dark areas.  However by 1941 there should have been adequate supplies of Middle Stone.

 

The phrase "in the field" conjures up, for me, pictures of the lads in the squadron setting to with brushes and brooms.  Which is seen in the Luftwaffe, to be fair, but any photos of it in the RAF must be very rare: I don't recall any other than the familiar ones of D-Day stripes.  Such repainting would normally be done in the rear, at a Maintenance Unit, which at this stage would be very close to the squadrons re-equipping in the Delta and Palestine.

Edited December 31, 2016 by Graham Boak

[leyreynolds]

If memory serves, 3 Sqn RAAF aircraft retained the TLS colours while operating over Palestine and Syria. Repainting would have been done after that.

[Nick Millman]

It is probable that Curtiss applied Berry Bros Berryloid paints to the Tomahawk rather than or in addition to Dupont paints, in as much as contemporary Berryloid advertising depicted P-40 wings being painted. I've not seen a Berry Bros paint chart for military finishes so cannot comment on any Sky/duck egg blue equivalent or absence thereof in their catalogue. 

 

There is a good IWM colour photo of a Tomahawk being serviced by RAF personnel in Egypt which reveals that the Middlestone (or Light Earth) seems to have a soft overspray along the edges of the Dark Earth. It is worth investing in a full-size copy of the original photo as many interesting details can be seen, including the original "Sky' paint grinning through the Azure overpainting and the undercarriage legs painted Azure.  

 

A contemporary painting of a Tomahawk at Rosh Pina in Palestine in 1941 depicts what appears to be a close match to RAF Sky under surfaces. The artist Harold Herbert wrote: "...No 3 Squadron RAAF - advanced aerodrome at Rosh Pinna ...the aerodrome is surrounded by eucalyptus saplings among which the personnel of the camp live under canvas.  Arid hills are the setting." Tomahawks in the Temperate Land Scheme (TLS) delivered to RAF and Commonwealth squadrons in the ME were reportedly described in a squadron ORB as having a "grey-ish green" colour on their under surfaces which sounds like a Sky equivalent.

 

As Graham has stated Dupont 71-021 is not a "light grey" or "Aircraft Grey" despite what some decal manufacturers still fondly believe. 

 

Nick

[Sean_M]

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