baclightning

Thanks very much for the info - that certainly does complicate things a bit. Lacking an actual photo, I think what I'll do is use Dark Sea Grey (that was the 'correct" color after all), and hope for the best.

Thanks very much for the tips. I just checked my stash of SAM, and I have the February and April 2002 issues, but not the March issue the article was in!

This is the article - it's the same UK-based aircraft from 41 Sq. that I'm going to build. Dynavector Hornet build

Thanks, Graham - I thought that was likely, but I looked at a couple of build reviews on the net of 1/48th scale Hornets, and one modeler had painted one in that scheme using Ocean Grey, so I thought I'd check. Dark Sea Grey sounds more likely to me.

I'm thinking of doing the old Novo (Frog) model of the De Havilland Hornet F.3 as a quick build. I have an original Frog decal sheet in quite usable condition, so I'm going to build it as PX314/ EB-C, as in the kit. However, the kit is the Novo kit, in a bag, with no color instructions. The old Profile on the Hornet shows this aircraft in an intruder scheme, with PRU Blue undersurfaces and Dark Green/grey uppersurfaces. My question is, which grey is used on the uppersurfaces? It looks like Dark Sea Grey. Is that correct? It could be Ocean Grey, but it seems a bit too dark for that. Anyone know for sure?

Wow, that is beautiful. Fantastic job! I have always liked the fact that Airfix included a jig to align the wings on this kit. I wish more manufacturers of biplanes would do the same.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I appreciate them. The USN usually used Curtiss SOC Seagulls and Vought OS2U Kingfishers as spotting aircraft, but it was realised that those aircraft would have little chance of survival if they encountered modern Luftwaffe fighters over the French coast. Since the RAF and FAA were operating Spitfires and Seafires in the role, it was decided to convert VCS-7, the USN unit that would be doing the naval spotting, onto Spitfires, to provide commonality among the Allied forces. They were placed under the command of the Third Naval Fighter Wing of the FAA, operating from Lee-on-Solent. They flew their first operational mission before dawn on D-Day, and continued to fly sorties until June 26. The unit had one pilot go MIA, but he later turned up safe. Because the Spitfires were borrowed from the RAF, and time was short, they were not painted with US markings, except for the squadron code. Nevertheless, it does represent a unique part of aviation history - the only US Navy unit to fly Spitfires in combat. The USN paper designation for the Spit, BTW, was the FS-1. Most of this info is from American Spitfire Camouflage and Markings by Paul Ludwig and Malolm Laird, which has several photos, including one of the aircraft I modeled.

I feel a bit loath to do this, but what the hell. I've never claimed to be anything but a very average modeler, and I've been having one heck of a time completing anything these days. This is the first model in three years I've actually finished, so despite the flaws, I'm very pleased to actually have something done! Anyway, I got some help from the members of the forum on colors for this, so I thought I should share it. It's a Revell 1/72nd scale Spitfire Mk.Vb (yes, the one with the flat wing where the gull wing should be). The decals are pieced together from several sources to represent an aircraft flown by VCS-7 of the US Navy for naval gun spotting during the Normandy invasion.

Being a Canadian product, the Norseman was used extensively by the RCAF - during the WW2-era, the RCAF roundel for home-based aircraft was the same as the RAF "A" roundel, so you could build one of those, if you can find suitable serials. Norseman web page

Thanks - a very nice overview. I've had the Hasegawa and Airfix GR.1s stashed away for a rainy day for some time now. One kit which I have that you missed was the Heller A/B/E, which can be built as either a single-seater or twin, in either French or RAF configuration. Aeroclub also did a set of white metal overwing pylons.

I have the Lightning and Meteor books, and reviewed the Lightning one for Internet Modeler: The English Electric Lightning After my review was on the net, Richard Caruana wrote me an e-mail pointing out a couple of mistakes I had made in the review - it was done in a totally civil manner, and I didn't mind at all. A couple of years ago, SAM offered several of these titles at a very deep discount directly through IPMS chapters - if you belong to an IPMS chapter, it might be worth getting in touch with the chapter contact to see if these are still valid.

Many of Teddy Petter's designs were beautiful - the Whirlwind, the Canberra, the Gnat... If there was another designer who so consistently designed great looking aircraft, I'm not aware of him.

The designations used today look like simplicity itself when compared with the British WW2 naming system. I wrote an article on this subject some time ago, so I'll quote myself... Unlike other air forces, the RAF and FAA used names, rather than an alphanumerical system, to designate aircraft types. These names were not chosen haphazardly, but as part of a complicated system that had been used by the RAF since its formation in 1918, although very much revised by the time WW2 rolled around. Contrary to popular belief, alliteration was not part of the RAF/FAA naming system, although it had been mandatory under the 1918 rules. Nevertheless, this tradition was often used well into the WW2 period and after, as in Hawker Hurricane, Short Stirling, Blackburn Botha, or Fairey Fulmar. Most WW2-era aircraft were named under either the 1932 or 1939 naming systems, which were quite similar, except for the names for naval aircraft. The FAA had been transferred back to the Royal Navy from the RAF in 1937, and names of naval aircraft were henceforth selected by the Admiralty, rather than the RAF. Names were either suggested by the manufacturer, or assigned by the military. There’s a wonderful story, probably apocryphal, of Reginald Mitchell greeting the news of the selection of the name Spitfire for his fighter with the exclamation, “That’s just the sort of bloody silly name they would choose!” Manufacturers, of course, had their own internal designation systems for their aircraft, which often used an alphanumeric system. De Havilland’s internal system was probably the best known, with designations such as the D.H.82 for the Tiger Moth and D.H.98 for the Mosquito being common knowledge. Other manufacturers had similar systems; the Sunderland was known to Shorts as the S.25, and the Lancaster to Avro as the Type 683. These were internal systems, however, and not part of the RAF system. Under the 1932 and 1939 RAF systems, here is how the names were chosen: Fighters were given “General words indicating, speed, activity, or aggressiveness.” This left quite a lot of room for variety. Meteorological names were common, such as Hurricane, Whirlwind, Lightning, and Typhoon. Other names featured fast animals, such as Mustang, or even appropriate adjectives, such as Defiant. Gladiator is pretty self-explanatory. Exactly how Buffalo, which hardly indicates “speed, activity, or aggressiveness” slipped through, I’m not sure, but it probably had something to do with the portly fuselage of the aircraft. It is possible that the aircraft was named for the African animal, which had a much more fearsome reputation than the American buffalo, but that fuselage does look a bit like a bison! It’s probably worth mentioning here how American aircraft used by the RAF, which began to appear in numbers in the late 1930s, were integrated into the naming system. Where possible, American-built aircraft were named under the same system, but with much more leeway. Under the basic RAF system, bombers, transports, and flying boats were given British, or British Empire, place names. American aircraft, however, were given suitably American names, such as Douglas Boston, Curtiss Cleveland, Martin Baltimore, or Consolidated Catalina, under the guidelines of the basic system. Some aircraft that originally had names assigned by their US manufacturers kept those in RAF service, such as the Bell Airacobra, which was going to be renamed Caribou, but which was finally given its manufacturer’s name. Many of those manufacturer’s names did not fit the guidelines, but some, such as Thunderbolt, certainly did. Many of the British names, such as Catalina and Lightning, worked their way back across the Atlantic to become official USAAF/USN names. Most British aircraft built in Canada kept their British names; one notable exception was the Bristol Blenheim, whose Canadian version was renamed the Bolingbroke. Curtiss had traditionally called their fighters Hawks, and the RAF kept up this tradition, with the Mohawk (yes, I know it’s actually a Native American tribe), Tomahawk, and Kittyhawk. The Merlin-engined P-40F was scheduled to be named the Goshawk, but was eventually named the Kittyhawk Mk.II. The Bristol Beaufighter is an interesting case. The Beaufighter was developed using as many components of the Beaufort torpedo bomber as possible, and the name reflected that. The name is a condensed version of the unwieldy “Beaufort fighter”, and while Beaufighter may not make much literal sense, it sounds good. After 1937, naval fighters did not fall under the RAF guidelines, and were often named after seabirds, as in the Fairey Fulmar. Adaptations of RAF fighters in naval service usually used the name “Sea” in front of the original name, as in Sea Hurricane or Sea Gladiator. Seafire is a condensed version of Sea Spitfire. American naval fighters were originally renamed to conform to this standard, (the Wildcat was renamed Martlet, and Hellcat was changed to Gannet), but in 1944 the FAA reverted back to the American names for all aircraft with different British and American names to avoid confusion. Bombers were named after “Place names – an inland town of the British Empire or associated with British history.” This gives us lots of bombers named after British towns, such as the Avro Lancaster, Handley-Page Halifax, or Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley. (Previous to this revision in the naming system, bombers had been named after animals, such as the Fairey Fox and Hawker Hart, but bombers named under that system were mostly obsolete by WW2). The Fairey Battle may seem to be outside this sequence, but it’s not. Battle is a town near Hastings, where the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066. The Vickers Wellington is a special case. There are two towns in England and one in New Zealand named Wellington, so the name technically fits the guidelines, but it was probably named to honor the Duke of Wellington, rather than a town. A previous Vickers bomber had been the Wellesley, which was the Duke of Wellington’s family name, so that strengthens the suspicion. Some non-British towns in the old Empire were also chosen, such as the Bristol Bombay. Most American bombers used by the RAF followed the guidelines, although the choices of Douglas Boston and Martin Baltimore under a naming system that specified “inland towns” indicates that someone didn’t have a map! Both the Boeing Fortress and Consolidated Liberator were granted names adopted by their manufacturers, not names under the British system. Transports were named after “Counties or districts of the British Empire,” which led to Avro York, and when US aircraft were obtained, to Americanized names such as Douglas Dakota. Flying boats were named after “Coastal towns and seaports of the British Empire,” leading to Short Sunderland, Supermarine Stranraer, and SARO London. It’s interesting that an undistinguished biplane flying boat should get the honor of being named after the nation’s capitol. Whoever came up with the name Consolidated Catalina, after an island off the California coast, deserves a medal. It just rolls off the tongue… Army Co-Operation aircraft were named after “Classical words,” whatever that means. This led to such aircraft being named after Greek or Roman figures, both mythological, as in Armstrong-Whitworth Atlas, and historical, as in Westland Lysander or Hawker Hector. Lysander, in case you’re wondering, was a very successful Spartan admiral and statesman who died in 395 B.C. General Purpose/Torpedo/Reconnaissance aircraft were given “British historical names”. The Bristol Beaufort was named after the Duke of Beaufort. The Avro Anson, as a coastal reconnaissance aircraft, took on a nautical name, being named for Lord George Anson, a famous 18th Century Admiral of the Royal Navy. This irritated the Royal Navy, who didn’t like the idea of an RAF aircraft carrying the name of a Royal Navy icon. An agreement was later reached between the Air Ministry and Admiralty that prevented the RAF from using many famous names associated with the Navy, but by that time not only the Anson but the Hawker Hardy, named after Nelson’s Flag Captain at the Battle of Trafalgar, had entered service. Trainers and target tugs were named for “Words indicating tuition and places of education (but not Air Force training establishments). This led to names such as Airspeed Oxford and Cambridge honoring famous universities, and Avro Tutor, or Miles Master, Magister, and Martinet, being named after things associated with schools. US-built designs were usually named after US universities, as in North American Harvard and Yale, and Fairchild Cornell. The open-cockpit Fairchild PT-19 was scheduled to be called the Freshman, but when the contract was amended to the sliding canopy PT-26 version, the name was dropped in favor of Cornell. The de Havilland Tiger Moth obviously does not fit into this system. The Tiger Moth was developed as a civil aircraft, and then adopted by the RAF. Sir Geoffrey de Havilland was an avid lepidopterist, and named many of his aircraft after moths. The Tiger Moth name became so well known that it was considered counterproductive to change the name when the RAF ordered the type, so Tiger Moth it stayed. Gliders were named after “Historical military leaders,” and some unknown person unofficially decided that all glider names should start with an “H”. This person either had a finely developed sense of the absurd, or had way too much time on his hands. Let’s take a look at these individually, for they have to rank, as a group, as the most bizarre set of names to be given to any military aircraft. The General Aircraft Hotspur was named after Sir Henry Percy, also known as Hotspur, a 14th Century historical figure whom I vaguely remember from Shakespeare’s plays. The WACO Hadrian was named after the Roman Emperor who built Hadrian’s Wall across the top of England to keep out the Picts. The General Aircraft Hamilcar was named for a Carthaginian general, who was the son of Hannibal (and why Hannibal wasn’t chosen as a name, I don’t know). This leaves the Slingby Hengist, and Airspeed Horsa. Hengist and Horsa were brothers, Germanic chieftains who invaded Britain in 449 A.D. That’s right, the main British glider used in the defeat of Germany was named after a German whose claim to fame was leading an invasion of Britain. The mind simply boggles… Under the 1932 system, naval fighters got mythological names, naval fighter/reconnaissance/bombers got names of sea birds, torpedo bombers got names of oceans and seas, and spotter/reconnaissance aircraft got the names of marine mammals. This perfectly accounts for names like Supermarine Walrus, Blackburn Skua, and Fairey Seafox. It even accounts for Blackburn Roc, which was a mythological bird from the “Arabian Nights”, although the fact that the Roc fighter had all of the aerodynamic qualities of a rock may have figured in there somewhere. But how does the most famous British naval aircraft of all-time, the Fairey Swordfish, fit into this series? The Admiralty named naval aircraft under the 1939 system, and this produced a lot of fish, seabird, and marine mammal names for aircraft introduced after 1939, such as Fairey Barracuda, Fairey Albacore (somehow, going to war in a weapon named after a big tuna doesn’t seem to be the right way to inspire confidence), Grumman Martlet, and Supermarine Sea Otter. Some aircraft names appear to fall outside of the general naming guidelines. The de Havilland Mosquito is a perfect name for that aircraft, but hardly conforms to the name of a British town, as bombers were supposed to. The British used an alphanumerical system to indicate variants and subtypes. At the start of the war, the system used Roman numerals; the first production variant of each type was the Mk.I, the second the Mk.II, and so forth. New mark numbers were not assigned except for major engine or airframe changes, which led to some drastic differences between aircraft of the same mark. Hurricane Mk.Is, for example, could have metal or fabric-covered wings, or have two-blade wooden or three-blade metal props. Over 14,000 Hurricanes were built, and all were one of three production versions, the Mk.I, Mk.II, or Mk.IV (or their Canadian counterparts). Obviously, there were a lot of differences between many of them. The situation reached the absurd with the Spitfire Mk.IX, which could have either a regular or bubble canopy; a pointed rudder or rounded one; regular or clipped wings; a high, medium, or low altitude engine; regular or tropical filters; and many armament variations. Sometimes a modified aircraft was so different as to require a notation; the Lancasters modified for 617 Squadron’s unique operations were designated Lancaster B.I (Special), but exactly which modification was indicated is not spelled out. Suffixes of lower case letters were used to indicate the armament fitted. This can best be explained by showing the various subtypes of the Hurricane Mk.II – the Mk.IIa had eight guns; the Mk.IIb had twelve guns; the Mk.IIc had four 20 mm cannon; and the Mk.IId had two 40 mm cannon. Suffixes of this kind were only used to designate armament changes. As the war progressed, the need to identify changes became more crucial, and the system was revised. In about mid-1942, the catchall Mk.I or Mk.II designation was sometimes replaced by letters identifying a specific role, as in Supermarine Spitfire LF.IXb, which indicated a Spitfire Mk.IX fighter with an engine optimized for low-level operations, and with mixed cannon and machine gun armament. This designation is sometimes seen written as LF.Mk.IXb, but the omission of “Mk” soon became common. Examples of other designations that reflect roles include Avro Lancaster B.III, a bomber, de Havilland Mosquito NF.II, a night-fighter, or Bristol Beaufighter TF.X, a torpedo/fighter. For unknown reasons, this system was not universal. I’ve never seen the Hawker Tempest Mk.V, for example, referred to as the Tempest F.V. In 1944, the use of Roman numerals for mark numbers was discontinued, and Arabic numerals were used in their place. This changeover took some time to take effect, and was not always retroactive. The Spitfire F.21 is always written as such, but the Spitfire F.14 is often written as F.XIV, or even Mk.XIV.

I don't believe that any Wellingtons were converted to carry lifeboats. The aircraft you saw was undoubtedly a Warwick.

The old MicroScale/SuperScale sheet 72-7 "RAF National Insignia WW II" had the Wing Commander, Group Captain, Air Commodore, and Air Marshal pennants, but no AVM. Go figure...