scorpion Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 i got some decals in the post today for a few of the italian aerobatic teams and the frecce tricolori sheet covers an f-86 in all of the 3 schemes that aircraft wore.while i know the 3rd scheme was the same as that carried by the gina does anyone know for sure if the 1st and 2nd schemes had the top of the wings and tailplane along with the fuselage black or blue.i always thought the main colour was blue but the decal instructions say black and any pics i can find relating to the schemes in question are either bw or a "grainy" colour pic and i cant make out if its black or blue..any help would be most welcome,thanks guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 (edited) I'm of the belief that the F-86 in the the first scheme were black and thats how I finished my Airfix Sabre using Tauro decals( which sound like the ones you have). There was, however, another Italian team callled the Lanceri Neri (Black Lancers) and they were definitely black on all top surfaces. Have you checked the Aerobatic Teams website? www.aerobaticteams.net Edited February 12, 2013 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 First of all, I would ask a moderator if the thread can be moved in the cold war aircrafts section, as I'm not sure if a thread in the completed GB section will have much visibility... although you're getting at least 2 answers, so maybe someone looks at these ! The matter of blue vs. black has been debated a lot. There is no official document stating the use of black while there are documents stating the use of blue. Some written histories coming from the team state that the first aircrafts were black. However the same histories say that the reason for the black surfaces was that the aircrafts were the same used by the former Lancieri Neri team, that had indeed black uppersurfaces. However the individual history of the aircrafts shows that the Lancieri Neri aircrafts were all returned to service in the then standard natural metal scheme, so it is not possible that any of these aircrafts served with the Frecce in the old scheme. Other former members of the team said that the aircrafts were in the same blue used on the cars assigned to state services. This was (and still is) a dark gloss blue. If you google "blu ministeriale" (literally Ministry blue), you'll find some examples of cars from the '60s and '70s in this colour. With this I'm not saying that the same automotive paint was used, although this would not have been a first, as other aerobatic teams had used automotive paints before. Personally, after having read all I could on the subject I am convinced that the aircrafts were indeed a very dark blue and not black. The only mentions of black give for this a reason that has been proven wrong. For what it's worth, years ago (around 1986-8) I saw a static display of former and current Frecce Tricolori aircrafts and the Sabre was finished in a very dark blue. The same aircraft was later repainted, can't remember if in black or blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 This any help? http://aerobaticteams.net/frecce-tricolori-sabre.html Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpion Posted February 12, 2013 Author Share Posted February 12, 2013 thanks for the replies and help / links..very useful...yep paul its indeed the tauro decals that i have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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