Blimpyboy

This decal sheet may be a good source of inspiration (for three aircraft, at least - including MJ250, as mentioned by @warhawk):

The RAAF flew with unpainted Spitfires, for a time. Similarly, at least two RAF units operating in Australia during WWII - 548 and 549 Squadrons - also flew Spitfires in natural metal finishes. http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/_data/i/gallery3/var/albums/SPITFIRE/Spitfire-A58-319/Dad_in_Oz-me.jpg and http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/_data/i/gallery3/var/albums/SPITFIRE/Spitfire-A58-319/Spifire_Mk_VIII_A58_319_TS_O-me.jpg and and and and There's an interesting study in bureaucracy, regarding 548/549 Squadrons' adoption of natural metal finishes (quoted from the instructions for CMR's Spitfire VIII kit, prepared by Peter Malone): "Two new RAF squadrons, Nos 548 and 549, were formed at the end of 1943, with RAF pilots and RAAF ground crew. In April 1944 they began to receive their new aircraft from each of the three aircraft depots. They were delivered camouflaged, mostly in the Foliage Green over Sky Blue scheme. At the end of April the RAAF issued a new instruction stating that camouflage on day fighter aircraft was to be removed to bring them into line with P-40Ns being received from the US and the anticipated Mustangs. In the event this order was subsequently modified at the request of commanders in the north to allow camouflage to be retained for operational aircraft. However the point does not seem to have been understood by the RAAF’s Eastern Area Command who ordered that all of 548 and 549’s Spitfires were to be stripped of paint shortly before the squadron moved north. This extremely unpopular order had to be carried out by the few remaining ground staff and the pilots. The two squadrons eventually proceeded north to Darwin in June. There, they were amazed to be told by the North Western Area Headquarters that their aircraft would have to be camouflaged before the squadrons would be considered operational! The repainting was done over a period of time and it was not accomplished before the end of the year." If I recall correctly, a number of 548/549 squadron members were briefly hospitalised, due to the effects of paint stripper during the great stripping exercise at Amberley!

A Japanese trial of hybrid AFV technology (the T-HEV): https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/sites/default/files/basic_pates/documents/ICSILP18Thu1430_Taira_et_al-Tracked_Hybrid-Electric_Combat_vehicle.pdf

And, to amplify @Kingsman’s entries somewhat: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/10/6/electric-vehicles-for-the-military-still-a-pipedream

To add to @GiampieroSilvestri's post, here are some more shots of the I-310 (sadly, none of them include the underside). These are of the 'S-1' airframe: http://авиару.рф/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/1.I-310-MiG-15-S-1.jpg http://авиару.рф/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2.I-310-MiG-15-S-1.-Vid-sboku..jpg http://авиару.рф/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/3.MiG-15-S-1..jpg http://авиару.рф/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/3a.I-310-MiG-15-S-1.jpg This is - according to the caption - the 'S-2' airframe, which included wing hardpoints: http://авиару.рф/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Vtoroj-opytnyj-I-310-MiG-15-S-2-oborudovannyj-reaktivnymi-protivoshtopornymi-ustanovkami-RPU-300.jpg And this - again, according to the caption - is the 'S-3' airframe. http://авиару.рф/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/4a.3-ij-opytnyj-ekzemplyar-MiG-15-S-3-s-otkrytymi-tormoznymi-shhitkami..jpg I don't know which airframe this one is: http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/fighter/mig15/mig15-2.jpg Finally, this drawing doesn't show any wing fences, but I'm not sure if it's just an indicative airframe diagram: http://авиару.рф/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/8.I-310.-CHertezh..jpg Good luck!

Luckily, Zvezda put out the radial-engined version (using the original designation of TB-7), which includes the revised nose (which looks a lot nicer, in my opinion). To me, it looks quite B-17 like, from some angles!

I'm resuming construction of my Zvezda Pe-8 and am looking for some colour/markings inspiration. I haven't been able to find much - then I found this shot: Does the collective have any ideas about the marking (a shield of some type?) under the windscreen, as well as the colours on the spinners? Also - and the usual request here - does anyone have any thoughts about the likely camouflage scheme and colours on this 'plane? I presume it's very late, or just after the, European war - any information would be most welcome. Thanks in advance! BB

Here are some decals for Greek C-47s from the late 1940s-early 1950s. Perhaps they’re still of use? https://www.lmdecals.gr/index.php/en/1-72-scale-decals/aircraft/388-c47-dakota-skytrain-hellenic-air-force-rhaf-korean-war-haf Otherwise, how about some Anson decals? https://www.lmdecals.gr/index.php/en/x-series-en/military-aircraft/420-avro-anson-haf-hellenic-greek-air-force-wwii-1940

I found these pictures on the webs and thought I'd chuck 'em here, as they may inspire someone to make an interesting Ni. 24bis. http://ava.org.ru/ww1/adi4/s.jpg http://ava.org.ru/ww1/aoi12/n24bis.jpg The pictures are from this page: http://ava.org.ru/ww1/aoi12.htm. The aircraft are noted as belonging to the 12th Fighter Aviation Detachment of the Red Russian (Soviet) Air Fleet in the 1920s. Enjoy!

And, yet another picture claiming to show D-ABAN (again, this one has no black nose or wing cowls): https://m.xuite.net/photo/jpfu0313/19786163/287

But wait, there's more... This site (https://rexkuang326.pixnet.net/blog/post/349307641-鐵安妮~容克斯-ju-52-3mge) also has a few photos of D-ABAN (Emil Thuy), before and after handover to the Nationalists. The caption under the last photo mentions that the rudder was painted with blue and white stripes, and that the fuselage was painted with a slightly mottled green paint. That, to me, would indicate that the green was sprayed over the extant aluminium colour (or whatever the Eurasia Ju 52s were painted), which would tally with the mottling applied to some other aircraft types in the Nationalist air forces - often being sprayed over the existing light background colour. However... The 'before' photos (the first three, below) show black detailing painted around the nose and wing nacelle areas, while the 'after' photos (the bottom two, below) seem to show no black-painted areas. My question is, was the black removed or was the entire aircraft painted a light grey colour before any mottling was applied? Sadly, I have no idea - over to the floor for other thoughts!

If the aircraft’s indeed been repainted (I’m assuming the original photo/negative hasn’t deteriorated badly to give the appearance of camouflaging), would the mottle have been a variation of the dull dark green used on many other Nationalist birds? If so, these threads may come in handy: and http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2013/03/curtiss-hawk-monoplanes-for-china-pt-1.html?m=1 and http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2013/04/curtiss-hawk-monoplanes-for-china-pt-2.html?m=1 FYI, this page has photos of both sides of the aircraft, before its handover to the Generalissimo: http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=338454. Sticking with these markings, Tiger Wings sheet 72-104 has an option for this bird; however these markings are pre-handover (I presume) and have incorrect tail markings (unlike the combination mentioned by @modelldoc, and the photos at the top of this post). There’s a picture of the Tiger Wings sheet on the Hong Kong eBay site: https://www.ebay.com.hk/itm/Tiger-wings-1-72-R-O-C-JU-52-Junkers-C-47-A-B-Skytrain-Decals-/221306519149#vi__app-cvip-panel. Otherwise, another profile of this bird can be found here: https://gkjlai.pixnet.net/blog/post/467390585-空軍學術雙月刊第669期(108-04)----中華民國使用.

Bearing in mind that some -3Ps were single seaters...! 😉

The aircraft in this picture is listed as being an F7F-3P in Korea - but beyond that, I can't confirm or discount the accuracy of the caption (other forumites may have a better idea). The colour seems to be blue rather than black, but that could just be my ancient eyes...! There seems to be a reasonable amount of wear down to the primer on some areas where personnel walk, and on the ends of the propellers (as with many other Tigercats, the latter appear to have been ground down, due to ground clearance issues and damage), and there's a bit of exhaust staining - otherwise, the paintwork seems in pretty good nick. The -3Ns in @Troy Smith's post above show how much wear and crud (liquid spills, dust, mud, etc.) accumulated on heavily used airframes in Korea, so that might be the way to go; however, I'm not sure if -3Ps ended up in the same condition! Otherwise, some more pictures of -3Ns in Korea: Finally - and notwithstanding the range of colours -3Ns and -3Ps were/could have been painted in - this chap has done a good effort in showing the blue coming through worn black paint on his -3N model: http://hsgalleries.com/f7f3nrc_1.htm.

It's more the latter (low observability - as well as all the onboard sensor-communication-weapons fusion and 'networking' blah) that defines a fifth generation fighter, rather than its design mechanisms - the design-by-computer aspect is not really a factor in defining generations. The computing issue is more to do with how all onboard systems are fused and function (software-defined being the phrase to watch), although there is no doubt computers are the crucial factor in making fighter developments and manufacture all happen in a useful timeframe these days... One way of looking at it is: 'A quantum improvement in the fighter’s lethality and survivability has been a qualifying requirement to achieve generational change and the fifth generation fighters personify these traits'. To paraphrase somewhat, from the Australian Air Power Development Centre's article 'Five Generations of Jet Fighter Aircraft' (https://airpower.airforce.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-03/PFV05-Pathfinder-Collection-Volume-5.pdf - pages 45 to 49) : The first generation of jet fighters (mid-1940s to mid-1950s) had basic avionic systems with no radars or self-protection countermeasures, and were armed with machine guns or cannons, as well as unguided bombs and rockets. A common characteristic of this generation of fighter was that the jet engines did not have afterburners and the aircraft operated in the subsonic regime. Second generation jet fighters (mid-1950s to early 1960s) saw the introduction of air-to-air radar, infrared and semi-active guided missiles, as well as radar warning receivers. This generation’s fighters also incorporated advances in engine design and aerodynamics, which allowed them to reach and sustain supersonic speeds in level flight. During this period, although air-to-air combat was still within visual range, radar-guided missiles started to extend engagement ranges. Third generation jet fighters (early 1960s to 1970) incorporated improvements in manoeuvrability, and significant enhancements to the avionic suites and weapon systems. They were also the first cadre of multi-role fighters. Doppler radar supported a ‘look-down/shoot-down’ capability, and with off-bore-sight targeting and semi-active guided radio frequency missiles, aerial engagements moved to beyond visual range. The major change brought about by this generation aircraft was that it was no longer necessary to visually acquire opponents to neutralise them and gain control of the air. Fourth generation jet fighters (1970 to late 1980s) incorporated improvements in avionics such as head-up displays and optimised aerodynamic design continued with the development of ‘fly-by-wire’ fighters. Most of this generation of fighters had the ability to both switch and swing roles between air-to-air and air-to-ground, as opposed to the previous role-dedicated aircraft. This in turn blurred the distinction between control of the air and strike missions. Four and half generation jet fighters (late 1980s and into the 90s). The concept of having a half generation increment stemmed from a forced reduction in military spending, which resulted in a restriction in aircraft development. It became more cost-effective to add ‘stealth’, radar absorbent materials, thrust vector controlled engines, greater weapons carriage capacity and to extend the range of fourth generation fighters than to design new aircraft. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is an example of a 4.5 generation fighter evolved from a fourth generation aircraft. The addition of an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar was a significant enough game-changing combat capability for these redesigned fighters to be deemed a generation of their own, hence the generation 4.5 rating. Some manufacturers designed new platforms, which incorporate many of the generation 4.5 advanced characteristics. Advances in computer technology and data links also allowed 4.5 generation fighters to be integrated into a network centric battlespace where fighter aircraft have much greater scope to conduct multi-role missions. As an example, the AESA radar allows fighter aircraft to perform a limited Airborne Early Warning and Control function. Fifth generation jet fighters (2005 to date). Advances over earlier generational fighters include nose-to-tail low observable or stealth technologies as part of the aircraft’s design that make it almost impossible for even other generation five fighters to detect them; improved situational awareness through having multi-spectral sensors located across all aspects of the airframe which allows the pilot to ‘look’ through the airframe of the aircraft without having to manoeuvre the fighter to obtain a 360 degree picture which in turn, enhances the aircraft’s ability to use its suite of weapons to engage and neutralise an adversary without the adversary even being aware of the threat. These aircraft are also ‘born’ networked which allows them to receive, share and store information to enhance the battlespace picture. Fifth generation fighter capabilities are largely defined by their software and it will be the ongoing development of their software that will ensure they maintain their edge against evolving threats. Another interesting take can be found here: https://navalinstitute.com.au/jet-fighter-aircraft-five-generations-later-and-still-counting/

I wonder if the Surya Kiran Hawks use the same red/orange/whatever as the Dhruvs of the IAF's 'Sarang' display team... (probably not, 'though - the helicopters do seem to be more red than a red-orange). But, if so, a tantalising link to the colours could be in here: Now, all you have to do is track down Mr Ganesh and his team in Bangalore!

Did this earlier thread help at all? I note that, in the profile shown in the earlier post from @Troy Smith, the colour is described as 'FS 12197 International Orange'. Interestingly, Indian colour standard IS 5 "Colours for ready mixed paints and enamels, sixth revision" (published in 2007) also contains a shade called International Orange - this being No. 592 (and which is undoubtedly derived from the colour of the same number and name found in several iterations of BS 381). FYI, a link to IS 5 is: https://archive.org/details/gov.in.is.5.2007. Something to ponder, perhaps... Otherwise, the good people at DEKL's may also have some insights: (from: https://dekls.square.site/product/Decals-BAe_HAwk_Mk132_Suryakiran_Team-Scale-1%2F72/119?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=true&q=false&category_id=21)

I'm not sure I haven't missed anything on the previous pages, but does anybody know a paint - or mix thereof - that best represents the 1970s/1980s era BS381C-104 Azure Blue? Here's hoping...

Well, I'm finally at the point where this project is about to begin in earnest! Luckily, I managed to find some fairly definitive pictures of Qatari Police Lynxes, courtesy of an example being refurbished at the Newark Air Museum. I do have more questions about Qatari Police birds: 1. I've read that they were fitted with external flotation gear on the fuselage, behind the door - does anybody have any pictures of flotation gear fitted to Army Lynxes? 2. What colours would the rotors have been - the same as British Army/Royal Marines birds, or different? 3. I've read, in my ancient copy of Scale Aircraft Modelling from July 1984, that the blue was Azure Blue BS.381C/104 - is this correct or would it have been a darker colour (I can't tell from the photos below)? For those interested, more information and pictures can be found here: http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/Lynx_Arrives and https://twitter.com/hashtag/LynxQP31rebuild?src=hashtag_click BB

Hopefully, he/she’s on the wing somewhere, trying to match the ‘plane’s colours with a bunch of FS, RAL and BS colour fans…

Otherwise, d'you think the colours used on the Hunter in the middle of the bottom row (below - if your eyes can make 'em out...) might be better? Here's a photo:

As far as Chilean military aircraft go, the only schemes I could find were K variants in an overall light colour, and Z variants (ex-LAN airliners) also in an overall light colour but with an anti-glare section on the nose and dark-coloured engine nacelles. The chief (Portuguese) reference I could find regarding the scheme on Portuguese Ju 86s was this picture:

Found it. Finally.

That’s a lovely finish on a slick (and slickly-made) bird! If only I could achieve a metallic finish like that…

Hi there! To amplify demiles' comment above, I couldn't find any Taiwanese sites that recommend any colours other than the NATO ones mentioned in the previous post. Taiwan might have chosen to use NATO colours for its own vehicles: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2019/03/05/2003710883 In Taiwan, these paint sets are sometimes advertised in conjunction with CM-34 kits (however, while they may be suitable for older generation vehicle colours, I can't speak to whether or not they are correct for the Clouded Leopard - my money would be on the six-bottle 'Neo' set, particularly for the brighter green colour): Here is a colour guide from the 1/35 CM-34 kit: Plus, a colour guide for other vehicles in the family (same colours, 'though). Hopefully, at some point in the future, there will be a mask set for the CM-34, similar to these: http://www.hobbyfan.com.tw/Uploads/2019/05/13S1905136891/TW60019_01.png and http://www.hobbyfan.com.tw/Uploads/2019/05/13O1905135527/TW60019_02.png and http://www.hobbyfan.com.tw/Uploads/2019/05/13Q1905135343/TW60019_03.png and http://www.hobbyfan.com.tw/Uploads/2019/05/13Z1905136337/TW60019_04.png Happy painting!