Nobby Clarke

Rolls-Royce, Thanks for your suggestion. I contacted John Miller at Model Paint Solutions https://modelpaintsol.com and he kindly recommended MMM-009 RAF High Speed Silver. Nobby

I am modeling a pair of early WWII / immediate pre-war Hurricane and Spitfires. I am using Mission Models water-based acrylics almost exclusively. They have a new metallic colour, MMM-009 RAF High Speed Silver and also several other aluminium shades, notably MMM-003 Aluminium. Does anyone have any advice or experience with which Mission Models metallic would be most appropriate for the aluminum undersurface colour? Mission Models choices are: MMM-003 Aluminum MMM-005 Duraluminum MMM-006 Silver MMM-007 Dark Aluminum MMM-008 White Aluminum MMM-009 RAF High Speed Silver I’m asking this question since most metallic paints are designed to represent bare metal finishes, not paint or dope. Cheers, Nobby

Olivier, Could you tell me how this chart was created? How were you able to render the exact colours from the RAF Museum book and Urban's Colour Reference Charts? Nobby

Thanks BS_w, These are great photos. Do you know where they came from? I agree that the area where the oleos retract are a lighter colour in the B&W photos, but it’s difficult to know what colour this really is - it could be a primer or could be the undersurface colour. Nobby

I have recently discovered the photo below of AVG Tomahawk wings being transported, presumably as the unit retreated from Burma. What is interesting is the colours of the wing undersides at the landing gear location. The gear has been removed as well as the fairings and the doors that cover the oleos when the gear is retracted in flight. It appears that the wing areas that were originally covered by the fairings are a darker colour - maybe the Curtiss green primer seen in the colour photos taken in the factory (above). But the exposed underside wing area where the oleo retracts is painted a lighter colour - perhaps the same as the wing underside. I would appreciate comments on this observation, or any definitive information on the colours of the insides of the landing gear doors and the underwing surface enclosed by the fairings and doors. Thanks, Nobby

I'm building a couple of AVG Tomahawks and I' wondering whether there has been any further information or determination on the questions that Hume Bates raised earlier in this post (2011). Namely, what paint was used at the Curtiss factory for the underwing areas and insides of the fairings and doors that cover the undercarriage. In the 2011 time frame the debate was whether Curtiss sprayed the wing undersides top coat color or used the Curtiss green/yellow primer. I have similar questions about the tail wheel housing. Both main gear and tail wheel have a fabric liner (rubberized?) in the wheel wells and around the tail wheel. The LIFE photo of a the unpainted wing under construction appears to show the wheel well liner to be painted the same green/yellow as the primer, but restored aircraft have this as a beige/khaki canvas liner. I have sen another photo of a P-40 wreck that shows the tail wheel liner to be a brown/khaki colour. Are these colours still thought to be accurate?

Thanks for the clarification Graham.

Thanks 72modeler!

Graham. Thanks, I understand the undersides were Du Pont 71-021 or US Army Spec 3-1 # 323 Sky Gray. I was trying to avoid replicating the colour discussion already captured in other posts.

Dennis, Thanks for the great pictures! They clearly show the wheel wells, but the P-40 main undercarriage struts/oleos are not recessed into the wings, only the wheels are enclosed by the wing volume when the undercarriage is retracted. The undercarriage struts fold backwards and lie on top of the underwing surface, there are fairings and doors that surround the struts when the undercarriage is retracted. My question is regarding the paint colour of the insides of the fairings and undercarriage doors. .

Does anybody have info on the correct colour for the inside of the undercarriage bay doors and the lower wing area that forms the floor of the bay? I have seen photos of restored P-40's that show either: i. green zinc chromate, or ii. same Sky Gray color as the rest of the wing undersides.

I'm building two 1:48 scale P-40Bs one in AVG colors and the other in RAF desert scheme. I have seen photos of several restored aircraft that show the interiors of the undercarriage bays painted in either green zinc chromate or the same colour as the wing undersides. Can somebody provide guidance on the correct internal undercarriage bay colour? Both aircraft were originally destined for the RAF and would have been delivered in temperate land scheme (TLS) I believe. Thanks, Nobby