RAF Ground Equipment

[NickR]

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction for paint options for an RAF trolley accumulator and oil bowser (from the Revell kit - 1/48).

They are going onto a diorama dated around winter 1944/45. I have read elsewhere they were blue early in the war, camo (dark earth/dark green) mid war and olive drab from Sept 44 onwards (apparently to match army colour schemes) although this may be inaccurate

If that is the case should I go :-

1. Conform to accuracy (as per above) and do olive drab (Tamiya XF62)
   
2. Do a colour scheme more familiar (Blue - paint options here would be great)
   
3. Something a bit different and do camo ((Humbrol 29 & 163)
   

Any help appreciated on accuracy of my info and paint choices

Thanks in advance

[Selwyn]

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction for paint options for an RAF trolley accumulator and oil bowser (from the Revell kit - 1/48).

They are going onto a diorama dated around winter 1944/45. I have read elsewhere they were blue early in the war, camo (dark earth/dark green) mid war and olive drab from Sept 44 onwards (apparently to match army colour schemes) although this may be inaccurate

If that is the case should I go :-

1. Conform to accuracy (as per above) and do olive drab (Tamiya XF62)
   
2. Do a colour scheme more familiar (Blue - paint options here would be great)
   
3. Something a bit different and do camo ((Humbrol 29 & 163)
   

Any help appreciated on accuracy of my info and paint choices

Thanks in advance

The RAF ground equipment from that time should be in Standard Camoflage Colour 2 (SCC 2) a Brown Colour (not aircraft Dark Earth!) which was a Army vehicle colour. All RAF WW2 vehicles and ground eqipment used it as a base colour post 1941 until 1944 when UK Olive Drab (different to US OD) appeared on new vehicles. I assume that any new GE was also painted this colour, but usually the policy was that the Brown was still used until stocks ran out. I don't think RAF GE was "camoflaged" I haven't seen anything to suggest otherwise, but it was just left in the SCC2 base colour, but I could be convinced otherwise with Photo evidence!

I believe that there were still lots of SCC2 painted equipment around in 1948 when the RAF reverted back to Blues.

White Ensign produce SCC2.It is perhaps a little light than it should be, but looks ok as it gives a "scale effect" quite nicely.

Selwyn

Edited November 29, 2011 by Selwyn

[Troy Smith]

The RAF ground equipment from that time should be in Standard Camoflage Colour 2 (SCC 2) a Brown Colour (not aircraft Dark Earth!) which was a Army vehicle colour. All RAF WW2 vehicles and ground eqipment used it as a base colour post 1941 until 1944 when UK Olive Drab (different to US OD) appeared on new vehicles. I assume that any new GE was also painted this colour, but usually the policy was that the Brown was still used until stocks ran out. I don't think RAF GE was "camoflaged" I haven't seen anything to suggest otherwise, but it was just left in the SCC2 base colour, but I could be convinced otherwise with Photo evidence!

I believe that there were still lots of SCC2 painted equipment around in 1948 when the RAF reverted back to Blues.

White Ensign produce SCC2.It is perhaps a little light than it should be, but looks ok as it gives a "scale effect" quite nicely.

Selwyn

Mixes for all these British paints are here

from Mike Starmer, http://www.mafva.net/other%20pages/Starmer%20camo.htm

S.C.C. 2 (brown, khaki brown or service drab)

Mix: Revell 84 + Revell 86 in ratio 16:5. Acceptable results can be had with Humbrol 98 + 29 in ratio 5:4.

WEM ARB05 is slightly light but can be used on a model as is.

Dyed tilts in S.C.C. 2 can be represented by Humbrol 29 mixed with slight touches of white, black or grey to detail variations in dye.

In use: 1941 – 1945 as basic colour with S.C.C. 1A or S.C.C. 14.

Description: Rich dark brown with a hint of ‘khaki’.

EDIT -

Tamiya mix : SCC No.2 (brown) September 18 2009 at 4:46 PM

I got there at last thank goodness, and what a job that was too, only 120+ test shots. This colour replaced Khaki Green 3 as the basic colour from late 1941 and remained in use right through to the end of the war although replaced on vehicles for NWE in about March 1944 on. Also on vehicles from U.K. and Canada send to M.E. in 1943-45. In the MTP46 scheme you can put Dark Tarmac, SCC 1A dark brown or SCC 14 black over this.

Mix: 5pts XF68 + 4pts XF3 + 1pt XF1. The result is just a fraction strong on the red so go careful and do not overdo the black as even a slight touch too much darkens the result a great deal. Should be OK with some medium grey added for scale effect.

And that wraps it!

this lower colour on this Churchill is S.C.C.2

For S.C.C. 15 OD,

Tamiya mix for British SCC 15 Olive Drab

Those of you wishing to paint late war British vehicles may find this latest mix easier to make up than the previous mix, it is slightly lighter and more accurate too. Mix 5 pts XF81 + 1 pt XF58 +1 pt XF71.

HTH

T

Edited December 30, 2011 by Troy Smith

[NickR]

Hi Selwyn and Troy Smith

Thanks for taking the time to supply such thorough answers! It always amazes me how much stuff people know and makes this forum an absolute gold mine of collective knowledge.

I will have a stab at mixing a passable SCC2 as per the instructions in the link to Mike Starmer and Mike Cooper's site.

Thanks again fellas

[Mike S]

Most ground equipment was a single colour. but on bomber fields were it was normal to bomb up at dusk some of the trollys had white or yellow sides so as the more easily seen. One point about that coloured Churchill. The darker colour is SCC.14 black. Dark Tarmac would have been unlikely as its use was cancelled in late 1941 so only remaining stocks would have been used. The tank belongs to the Guards Armoured Divison Training Regiment and being the Guards it is tarted up. Strictly speaking it should not have the darker colour on it since the MTP.46 document does not mention AFVs in the instructions, only softskins. But numbers of AFVs were so painted in early 1942, but very few thereafter. I strongly suspect that there is a later directive somewhere that states that AFVs should not be so painted.

[GrzeM]

Interesting.
Can any of you here provide colour photo (possibly period one) with two vehicles painted in olive drab, one with US, and one with British shade of this colour?

Or any other reasonable comparison of these two colours?

[Das Boot]

I hope that those photos will help you, they were taken by myself at the Hendon Museum.