69 sqn Hurricane V7101 colour scheme query

[PaulR]

Hi all,

I was checking out the newish Italeri Hurricane kit and saw the rather interesting 69 sqn fighter recce colour scheme of blue with a camo tail. There's a profile of this airframe in an osprey book as well, but the two differ in a couple of respects, namely the colours of the tail (brown/green or brown/middle stone) and the colour and type of prop. Does anyone have any knowledge on this airframe, and be willing to point me in the right direction for an accurate build?

Many thanks in advance, Paul

[Troy Smith]

Hi all,

I was checking out the newish Italeri Hurricane kit and saw the rather interesting 69 sqn fighter recce colour scheme of blue with a camo tail. There's a profile of this airframe in an osprey book as well, but the two differ in a couple of respects, namely the colours of the tail (brown/green or brown/middle stone) and the colour and type of prop. Does anyone have any knowledge on this airframe, and be willing to point me in the right direction for an accurate build?

Many thanks in advance, Paul

IIRC I think Tony O'Toole mentioned this scheme as being inaccurate. I wouldn't trust a profile these days without seeing the photo it's taken from...better have a quick search...OK, here

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...st&p=869871

Thanks for sharing your kit with us, it looks fab and I`m hopefully picking mine up tommorrow! I`d have got 2 if the price was a bit lower!

Pity it has not got a Vokes filter for a Middle East version but maybe that will be another boxing?

Just a warning, don`t build the Malta based PR version with a light blue finish and camo fin if it is still included as an option as this scheme is wrong! I cannot say any more at this stage sorry, but it will be in my new book when it finally comes out!

Cheers

Tony O

HTH

T

[Troy Smith]

I'll do this as a separate post, as I found this elsewhere.

http://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/modules.php?...topic_id=182667

note last post from 'Antoni'... whch may well be the answer [This you Tony?]

"...except the Malta machine which is overall Azure Blue with a Middle Stone/Dark Earth rudder. "

That’s not correct. 69 Squadron carried out reconnaissance duties and their Hurricanes were tasked with the sorties over the most dangerous targets. P3144 was locally modified by lightening the airframe and fitting two cameras. Land Temperate (Dark Earth/Dark Green) pattern A was the original scheme not Dark Earth/Mid Stone. It was over painted with a locally mixed ‘Matt Royal Blue’ colour made from five gallons of De Luxe Boston blue, seven pints of turpentine, 16 lbs of zinc powder, and 3 lbs of De Luxe black. The fin and rudder were not re-painted and left in the original Dark Earth/Dark Green.

Also, Paul R

Does anyone have any knowledge on this airframe, and be willing to point me in the right direction for an accurate build?

Do you want information on errors in the Italeri kit? There is a posting by me listing most of them, #6 on this page.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...topic=234914349

Get in touch if you need clarifications.

HTH

T

Edited April 2, 2012 by Troy Smith

[PaulR]

Many thanks gentlemen!

I think I'll go with the latter in the absence of anything better to go on!

P

[Edgar]

These colours were devised by Malta H.Q., and samples sent to the Air Ministry, for information, in 1936.

I don't know the mixes, or names (if they ever had any,) but the nearest matches to the blue, that I've found, are B.S.381C:108 Aircraft Blue (remembering that British Standards were not involved during the war,) Dark Mediterranean Blue (available from no-one, that I can see,) or F.S. 35052 lightened slightly.

The blue was matched to the colour of the sea surrounding Malta (during most of the year,) but it's up to you if you want to feel that they'd still have been using it in the 1940s.

Edited April 3, 2012 by Edgar

[Test Graham]

The mention of "Boston Blue" sounds suspiciously close to the "Bosun Blue" used in the standard early Middle East PR scheme. Is this just a coincidence?

[Edgar]

Possibly not, since Bosun Blue is thought, in some circles, to have originated on Malta.

There's also the intriguing thought that DeLuxe might actually be Dulux, since they've been around since 1931.

Edgar

Edited April 3, 2012 by Edgar