Seawinder

FWIW the best Blue-Gray I ever found was in the Floquil Military Colors line. I'm still hoarding a couple of bottles. I shouldn't think it would be that hard to mix an acceptable hue, especially given the actual paint faded so quickly. I'd probably start with Intermediate Blue, add a bit of green and then white as needed.

More about AmarilloUSAF, including samples of AmarilloUSAF Pro, which has alternate characters (for example the "2" in nexus11's photo), here: https://mooneymite.org/articles-miscellaneous/registration_marking/registration_marking.html

There is an Armadillo font, but it's nothing like the Air Force lettering, which is similar to, but not quite the same as, Amarillo (same name as a city in Texas). I agree with Georgio that the rounded countours were probably hand painted after the stencil application.

It's a 45° block letter computer font called Amarillo. I'd be interested in seeing the photos nexus11 referenced. I can't find any photos of Vietnam era 105s that don't use the block letters for both codes and serials. FWIW I think BuNo is pretty much a US Navy/Marines thing.

If I recall correctly what I've read, the weird brown color may in fact have started its life as IJA #9 Yellow-Green (basically olive drab).

True North and Lifecolor both do 28913. Testors Model Master enamel had it if you can find it: #2041. Gunze Mr. Color has florescent orange C173 that looks as if it might be close.

Pretty sure the -47M used the C series R-2800.

The best Blue Gray I ever found was the old, lamented Floquil Military Colors rendition. I'm still hoarding several bottles. I think adding small amounts of green to something like PRU Blue would improve it.

Yes, in the head-on shot I think I'm seeing half-and-half as well. The two inner starboard struts seem to show it pretty clearly, and the sun appears to be nearly overhead, so it's unlikely that the top ends, being in the shadow of the wing, would look lighter unless they were painted lighter.

Any thoughts about the color of the interplane struts? Most kit instructions appear to show Extra Dark Sea Grey, but I'm thinking it might have made sense for them to have been painted whatever lower wing color surrounded the strut -- in this case either Dark Sea Grey or Light Slate Grey. OTOH, if the struts were manufactured/painted apart from the airframe, a consistent color would also make sense. The struts in the head-on photo Ian sent me look very light -- maybe even Sky Grey? -- but they're strongly sunlit. Thanks again. Pip

Thank you Ian!

@iang, that's hugely helpful. A few more questions, if I may: 1. Since Tamiya supplies a totally wrong serial (V4372) for TP, I'm going to have to make decals for L2826. The Tamiya decal has the serial the same size as the "Royal Navy" legend, around 3/32 inch tall, which scales to about 4.5 inches. However, the serial for another markings option is about 3/16 inch tall, or scale 9 inches. I'm thinking maybe that's what the size should be? 2. Tamiya's decal for "2P" uses a typeface with straight-ish strokes and rounded edges, so the loop of the "P" looks like a rectangle with rounded edges. This is different from the serial, which has more uniformly rounded strokes. Based on your photo, should the serial and the code use the same typeface, and if so, which one? 3. I have no visual references for the placement of the code (2P?) on the undersurface of the upper wing. Can you say how large and where placed? Thanks again!

Thank you iang. Is it possible to describe the fuselage demarcation between upper and lower colors? The Tamiya instructions call for somewhat wavy lines sweeping up from lower wing leading edge to nose and from lower wing trailing edge to horizontal tail leading edge. I have a feeling that Fairey-built aircraft had a different scheme. Also, the Tamiya instructions only show wing upper surface camouflage patterns for the port side. Are there any diagrams online or elsewhere that show the entire wing surfaces? Thanks again!

I'm finally getting around to starting the Tamiya 1/48 kit and would like to do markings option B for Lt. A.W.D. Beale during the Bismarck attack. Although Tamiya calls for Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey (all upper surfaces) over Sky Grey, from what I've read the lower color should be Sky. Can that be confirmed? Also, while Tamiya gives "Squadron unknown" for Beale, am I correct in thinking it was 810 Sqn. off of Ark Royal? Thanks! Pip

From what I've read, 66 was already pretty much standard for bombers by BoB. Not sure if that means anything for Bf 110.

Hi Pete. I don't recall any particular difficulty fitting the canopy, but it was quite a few years ago. True Details and Aires both make/made resin cockpit sets for the Tamiya kit. I found one TD for sale on Ebay for something over $30. The Aires set is slightly more widely available for about the same price. I haven't seen either set in person. If the Aires set lives up the that company's general reputation, it'll be a bear to make fit. I was happy enough with the cockpit detail OOB, especially since the canopy isn't open. Cheers, Pip

Whether or not anybody ever made them, after taking a look at the one I built a couple of years ago I can't see why you'd need them. The intakes are square cross section all the way back to the fans, and whatever seams there may be at the edges are not visible from the outside.

Thanks, Pete. I'm going to go with open shutters, painted gray. Pip

Two questions about them if I may: 1. On a plane with the nose area painted gray, would the shutters be gray as well? 2. Were the shutters more likely open or closed when the plane was parked? (Eduard has both options.) Thanks! Pip

... if not for the quality of their products.

Raw, untreated lumber is often a very light tan. I'm pretty much with Paul and Brandy, although I usually start with a base coat of Mr. Color and overpaint with Model Master enamel Burnt Umber, which is pretty close to Leather. The Mr. Color is impervious to the Model Master, so the darker color can be worked as necessary for the desired effect without eating through the base. Using acrylic for the base will accomplish the same thing; I just don't have much in my stocks. I'd recommend the often sited 50-50 mix of clear orange and clear yellow to simulate the varnish (I use Tamiya) rather than straight orange.

From what I've read, the shrouds were sometimes removed in service, so it's likely that some a/c both had and didn't have them at different times. Quoting from a post to FineScaleModeler forum, the reasons for removing them included "1 - Expediting maintenance, especially when the planes might have been operating out of forward bases or flying multiple missions in a day 2 - Cracking issues due to heat, and no replacements on hand 3 - Some pilots thought they increased drag 4 - Some pilots thought the unshrouded exhaust looked better/sportier"

That is certainly not my experience. I've tried thinning for airbrush with Mr. Color, lacquer and white spirits thinners and have not seen any drying times faster than at least overnight.

You're in luck. The Roden Sea Gladiator boxing contains all the same plastic as the Mk. I boxing plus a small dedicated Sea Glad sprue with three-bladed prop/spinner, carrier cable hook, and ventral housing.

According to my Google searches, it's MRP-028 Dark Chrome Yellow. Mr. Hobby Orange Yellow is C58, not 56. The paint is not as orange as the jar cover. I've used it on a Japanese plane and think it would be all right for a pre-war USAAC plane.