B.P. Defiant L7006 PS-X wheel bay colour

[doorgunner]

Hello I am building the Airfix 1/48 Defiant in PS-X  markings in the battle of France period. I assume that at that time her undersurfaces were white/black with undersurfaces of engine and tail boom in silver.

I would like to ask if in this scheme the ailerons were reverted colours or not.

And wheels bay ? Which colour was ? Half b/w ? Silver ?

TIA Ciao

Maurizio

[mhaselden]

Hi Maurizio,

 

Sorry for the delay in answering but, since nobody else chimed in, I'll have a stab at your question.

 

The underside scheme you described is correct - black port underwing, white starboard underwing with painted aluminium for the rear fuselage and under the nose.  I suspect the undercarriage bay would also be painted aluminium since this was the delivery scheme for the Defiants initially operated by 264 Sqn.  Not sure about the ailerons.  Since this was the factory scheme, it's possible that they were painted to match the wing paint scheme (since they could be factory balanced prior to delivery).

 

Hope this helps a little.  Sadly, there isn't much definitive proof out there - photos are pretty scarce of Defiants during this period.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[dogsbody]

Some Intel:

 

http://www.boxartden.com/gallery/index.php/Profiles/Camoflage-Markings/08-Boulton-Paul-Defiant

 

 

Chris

[doorgunner]

Hello and thanks a lot for your kind replies. I have already painted my model kit but I still have the opportunity to change wheel bay colour. My further question is about the gear legs. In some pics they appear with a black main leg and silver fork...in others they seems to be overall silver. Airfix suggests a black main leg and retraction rods with a silver fork and wheel hubs. Is it right ?

Tia Maurizio

Edited June 9, 2017 by doorgunner