Jump to content

Canberra TT18 question


Red Dot

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, nabe3 said:

I started building the Airfix Canberra(1/48) at the beginning of 2018.  I have a question, and could you help me with the following questions?  What is the color of (1) interior surface of the landing gear wells, (2) landing gear struts and (3) inner surface of the flaps???  According to the Airfix kit instruction, they all are "Aluminum", however, judging from the walkaround photos you provided, the landing gear struts look light grey (almost white??) and the inside surface of the flaps look light grey too.  I'm quite confused, and I'd appreciate it greatly if someone could kindly help me in this matter.  I plan to finish my Canberra as TT.18 with grey upper surface operated by No.7 Sqdn in the mid-1970s.  

Generally speaking the wheel wells, legs, doors, and flaps were gloss white. The problem is in the time frame you are aiming at they could well have been TT.18's with aluminium or even Black in all these places. If you can't find a photo of the Aircraft you are building, then I'd go with white. The nose wheel leg could be in all cases gloss black or light grey. THe wheel hubs will be aluminium on all. Which Aircraft are you building? I'll see if I have any photos of her.

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry John, posted at same time there.

 

In the pictures I have of that era they do appear to be a very light grey to me - which I took to be stock colour for RAF undercarriages.  

Also check out the T.22 pic on page 1 of this thread.

I thought that the white came in later?

Edited by 71chally
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, 71chally said:

Sorry John, posted at same time there.

 

In the pictures I have of that era they do appear to be a very light grey to me - which I took to be stock colour for RAF undercarriages.  

Also check out the T.22 pic on page 1 of this thread.

I thought that the white came in later?

No problem James, I have no record of any grey being used other than the nose leg which I think is a Dowty unit? The doors a legs did get very grubby so they would look grey, or they my be aluminium painted ones? 

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just looking through some slides now, and it is a right mixture John!

Some are definitely a very light grey though, including very clearly on WH718, WH856 &WK127.  The grey seems to have a different tone to the LAG of the aircraft itself, and the colour seems too uniform for grubbiness.

There is one with an aluminium door which I guess was a replacement.  

Moving into the camo era there are more examples of white, and even examples of dark/black which I've never seen before?

 

Flaps are harder to determine, nice shots from my friend Chris England, would you say aluminium on this one?

English Electric Canberra TT18 WK127 St Mawgan 7-5-71

 

But light grey here, camo I know but this pic is dated 1974 so still in the LAG era.

English Electric Canberra TT18 WJ721 St Mawgan 6-8-74

 

 

 

I think your advice on picking the aircraft and modelling from a photo of it if possible would be wise.

Edited by 71chally
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice photo's James! I'm going to stick my neck on the block and say that light grey was never used on Canberra bay's or gear doors except the nose leg, I can only assume what appears to be light grey is an optical/photographic aberration. The AP's, although not the last word on such things state Gloss White, and I have seen a lot of Canberra undercarriage and as yet I've not encountered anything other than Black, White, Aluminium and one door in Zinc Primer. but I should add the the proviso it's a Canberra, never say never! As for flaps, Aluminium or white are the norm, black has been used but is quite rare.

  

John       

Edited by canberra kid
forgot the flaps
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are definitely grey in my slides (WH856 in particular is very clear), although in a difficult area there are bits of white that I can compare with and they are nothing like in shade or tone.  I will have to scan them at some stage.

Even in that shot of WJ721 above the door and upper flap areas are definitely not white (compare shade and tone with the white first aid marking) and too even a colour to be aluminium.

If only there were 'walkarounds' back then!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hi all,

 

Akira mailed me and asked if i would post a couple of piuctures showing some of the stuff he is doing to the Canberra model that you are all helping with, so here goes

 

Canberra_01.jpg

 

Canberra_02.jpg

 

As you can see the tailplanes are now sorted and knowing him, the rest will be pretty spectacular too.

 

It seems like white is the choice for the wheel wells and U/C legs but a photo of the plane in question is best. Keep the details coming and thanks for the help all the way from Japan.

 

By the way, Akira and three friends will be at Telford, so stop by and say hi at the Silverwings table in the International section.

 

Andy

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yay, Akira's doing the tailplane modification:penguin::penguin:

Great work and god idea of filling in the panel lines.

 

Do you know which Canberra in particular he is building?

Edited by 71chally
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

WH856, this will be contentious but I would honestly go with a light grey.

I have a couple of slides of it and will try and scan in as soon as I'm able.  Even from the shot at the beginning of the thread I would personally go with that finish.

 

I've also found some pictures of 7 sqn T.4s at the same period, in the white and red fuselage with LAG wings scheme, and the doors are most clearly in grey and are in stark contrast to the white fuselage adjoining the area.  The grey seems to have a very subtle bluish tone, ie not the same as the LAG of the fuselage but more like an admiralty grey.

 

However this is my own interpretation from pictures, I recognise John as the supreme Canberra being, and Akira will doubtless choose wisely on how to finish his model!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm still not convinced James, the white was applyed to all the interior of the airframe, so I can't see the point of painting the wheel bay's grey. As I said the only exception I've seen is the Dowty nose wheel unit which could be gloss black or grey. 

 

John

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Red Dot said:

hi James,

 

He's doing the one right back at the start of page one of this thread

 

Andy

Hello everyone, thank you very much for your discussion on the question I asked to you yesterday.  I understand that the colours of the questioned areas are not specified in one designated colour but the colours vary in a few different ways.  In other words, I can paint them in any colors(Ha-Ha!).  At the beginning, I plan to finish my TT.18 as a grey "WH856" which I pictured at St.Mawgan in 1974.  However, I realized that the WH856 did not carry my favourite tail marking of the No.7 Sqdn at the time of my photography. So, my current plan is to build it as a grey "WJ693", mainly because the Classic Airframes' TT.18 kit has this WJ639 decals within the kit I have.  Also, you provided me with a few photos of the WJ639 on this forum.  Judging from my 1974 photo of the grey WH856, the nose wheel hub is clearly "aluminum" and the nose wheel leg(strut) is clearly light grey(NOT white).  Inner surface of the nose gear door looks very dark (could be black??) due to extreme under exposure.

 

Anyway, thank you again for your great support. I plan to finish my TT.18 sometime in May, and I will upload some photos of my TT.18 on my website as soon as it is completed.

 

Akira        

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

WJ639, my favourite 7 sqn Canberra.

It was unique in being the only TT.18 to have a spotlight (Bedford headlights apparently) fitted under each engine nacelle for night towing work. 

It also had the external rear view mirrors and associated fairings fitted just ahead of the towing operators windows

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, 71chally said:

WJ639, my favourite 7 sqn Canberra.

It was unique in being the only TT.18 to have a spotlight (Bedford headlights apparently) fitted under each engine nacelle for night towing work. 

It also had the external rear view mirrors and associated fairings fitted just ahead of the towing operators windows

Hello James, I did not know the uniqueness of the WJ639 you mentioned.  Do you have some close-up photos of the spotlight and the external rear view mirrors of the WJ639?? Thank you in advance.

 

Akira

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, 71chally said:

Johns photos show these items well, you can see the mirror fairings forward of the side windows.

This is the only 7 squadron only TT.18 to be preserved, there are some good close ups here,

https://www.flickr.com/search/?ytcheck=1&new_session=1&text=canberra wj639

James and John,  Thank you so much for your prompt feedback.  I fully understand the shape of the rear view mirrors and the spotlights.  I surely will add them on my TT.18 model.  Thank you again.

 

Akira

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, nabe3 said:

Hello James, I did not know the uniqueness of the WJ639 you mentioned.  Do you have some close-up photos of the spotlight and the external rear view mirrors of the WJ639?? Thank you in advance.

 

Akira

I knew that request was coming! 😄

 

Andy

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, nabe3 said:

James and John,  Thank you so much for your prompt feedback.  I fully understand the shape of the rear view mirrors and the spotlights.  I surely will add them on my TT.18 model.  Thank you again.

 

Akira

Hi Akira,

 

can you see the colour of the u/c bays and legs?

 

andy

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...