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RAF High Altitude Flight colour(s).


Beard

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I'm planning on doing BS273/BF273 flown by Prince Emanuel Galitzine using the AZ Spitfire IX.

 

AZ's painting guide would have the modeller paint it in PRU Blue but this, from the Spitfire Site, suggests otherwise:

http://spitfiresite.com/2010/04/the-very-high-flying-prince.html

 

As there doesn't appear to be any photographs of the aircraft on the Internet is there any evidence as to the colour, other than Galitzine's recollection?

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General consensus of opinion I've read seems to be lighter than PRU blue, and perhaps not as light as Cambridge blue.  Neil Robinson did an article on this a/c in an IPMS magazine a couple of years ago, I'll see if I can dig it out.

 

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Thanks Mike.

The paintIng on the cover of Spitfire At War 3 has it in a pale blue, presumably this is from Galitzine's recollection. Any information you have will be very useful, although I'll need to find a Humbrol match for it, at the moment I'm thinking of using Humbrol RAF Blue because I'm the only person who'll ever see the finished kit.

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14 hours ago, The Wooksta! said:

I'd go with either PRU Blue or possibly Azure Blue.  The latter is a wonderful shade.

 

Thanks. Azure Blue is a lovely colour (and you've reminded me that it's the colour I wanted to paint my studio/ modelling room (although I hate to think how much it would cost to paint using Humbrol 157)).

I think I'll do some tests and see which one I think works best.

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Thanks beard now i know how i will do my Mk.IX when i get around to it. I always try to do unusual schemes as it catches the eye when people see them. Then i get to give a brief piece of history to someone. My best friend always says he likes when i show him my models, as i always have unique aircraft. I of course will have a Standard Mk.IX also but i like this one to. 

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56 minutes ago, Beard said:

 

I'm intrigued...

 

More colour options than anything else.  Middle East high altitude with Azure blue underneath rather than PRU.  I may well do one from the Eduard IX that's languishing part started in a box - it comes with the long span tips as standard.

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9 minutes ago, The Wooksta! said:

Middle East high altitude with Azure blue underneath rather than PRU.

I've often wondered if the High Altitude scheme on Mediterranean-based planes would use Azure Blue as the skies are different  (the reason for using Azure Blue rather than Sky, as I understand it) and because it would have been more easily available or easily mixed without resorting to instructions.

 

9 minutes ago, The Wooksta! said:

I may well do one from the Eduard IX that's languishing part started in a box - it comes with the long span tips as standard.

 

A MkIX with extended wingtips, in Medium Sea Grey over Azure Blue, sounds very cool (and pretty plausible). How about a SEAC Spitfire, maybe with Sky Blue undersides, to intercept those pesky Dinahs?

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The sky gets darker with altitude, wherever you are in the world.  So a darker colour than Azure Blue would still be required.  The High Altitude Fighter scheme seems to have appeared in the Mediterranean no sooner than the Day Fighter scheme, so I'd expect the standard PRU Blue undersides. 

 

For Galizine's fighter, consider Sky Blue or even Deep Sky Blue

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56 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

The sky gets darker with altitude, wherever you are in the world.  So a darker colour than Azure Blue would still be required. 

 

Something like the 'old' Humbrol 157 then? :wicked:

 

58 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

 

For Galizine's fighter, consider Sky Blue or even Deep Sky Blue

 

Thank you, that's very helpful. A standard colour seems more likely than what the article on The Spitfire Site suggests.

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3 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

The sky gets darker with altitude, wherever you are in the world.  So a darker colour than Azure Blue would still be required.  The High Altitude Fighter scheme seems to have appeared in the Mediterranean no sooner than the Day Fighter scheme, so I'd expect the standard PRU Blue undersides. 

 

For Galizine's fighter, consider Sky Blue or even Deep Sky Blue

Agree on both points and also with Beard's point re probable use of a standard colour.  Going back to Galitzine's "similar to Cambridge Blue" comment, I would have to plump for Sky Blue.  Which would be pretty.

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The problem with Sky Blue is that it is very light, more so than Cambridge blue, but with so vague a reference I don't think that we can be dogmatic about it.   I suspect that Deep Sky Blue would be a little too dark to match the description.

 

Humbrol 157 is a close match for Light Mediterranean Blue, and this colour was given as an official alternative for use in the Mediterranean, so yes it could be considered as an option.  But only if you assume that aircraft were painted in this scheme in theatre, rather than arriving in the scheme from the UK.  Given the scheme's use on Mk.IXs in the Mediterranean, but not in the UK, this is a strong possibility.  LMB and PRU Blue are close cousins anyway: PRU Blue being slightly greyer - or LMB slightly bluer, depending how you look at it.

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24 minutes ago, Beard said:

I was reading the Galizine chapter in Spitfire At War 3 last night and he describes the colour as a similar to Cambridge Blue.

 

http://encycolorpedia.com/a3c1ad

gives some details of Cambridge Blue, which it describes as a 'medium light shade of green-cyan'

 

Reminds me a bit of Eau de Nil

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There are color chips on the link, not only descriptions ... they ARE very similar to Eau de Nil.

All the depictions of Cambridge Blue you can find on the net are of a very similar green blue

 

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29 minutes ago, occa said:

Reminds me a bit of Eau de Nil

 

Let's not go there...

 

18 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

Whatever the description, Cambridge Blue is simply a light blue, nothing like the light green of Eau-de-Nil.

 

17 minutes ago, occa said:

There are color chips on the link, not only descriptions ...

 

I always thought Cambridge Blue was a light blue, rather than a greenish colour, and had the exact same conversation in my LHS on Saturday, but Cambridge University have it as:

https://www.cam.ac.uk/brand-resources/guidelines/typography-and-colour/pantone-pms-and-cmyk-references

 

Frankly, my whole world has been turned upsidedown.

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Just google images for eau de nil and compare the results with those of cambridge blue

 

A bit tired to get jumped at cause I don't support to reposted fantasies, sorry ...

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I have to agree that duck egg blue and Eau-de-Nil are nowhere near the same colour. Duck egg blue, not suprisingly enough looks like the pale blue of a duck egg, Eau-de-Nil a very popular interior design colour in the 30s is a green shade.

 

In terms of "Cambridge Blue" I would imagine it to be a very similar colour as that used by for example the Cambridge uni rugby team.

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