Airfix K2 Ambulance - colours

[bootneck]

I am looking for information on what the colours were for the K2 ambulances (RAF and Army) in Britain and Northern Europe in late WW2.

The instructions recommend Khaki but I would have thought a green for northern theatres? Also, would the RAF have any in blue?

Any info will be gratefully appreciated

cheers

Mike

[John]

MAFVA is your friend:

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

J

[Speckled Jim]

Hey Mike,

I had a smiliar issue late last year when i decided that I wanted to do a small diorama of the Queen and an Austin K2 Ambulance, I was having issues identifying the colour and was told this for the 44- onward period that it was a colour known as S.C.C. 15 Olive drab, and the below mix is what was suggested for me.

S.C.C. 15 Olive Drab.
Mix: 150 + 159 + 33 in ratio 5:5:2. A reasonable match is 159 + 33 in ratio 8:1. Dyed tilts can be represented by Humbrol 150.
In use: Introduced April 1944 in A.C.I. 533 as new basic colour with or without S.C.C.1A or 14 disruptive paintwork as M.T.P.46 for operations in N.W.Europe and Italy .
Description: Fresh olive drab, a very dark drab inclined towards green. Unlike the US colour which it resembles when new, this fades green. Noticeable contrast with black and less so with S.C.C. 1A. Definitely NOT blue-green or like any Humbrol colours.

hope this is of some use,

James

[bootneck]

Hi James and John,

very many thanks for this info. MAFVA looks the biz!

Mike

[Test Graham]

SCC15 was only, like almost all Army colour schemes, only to be applied when the vehicles were up for overhaul. It is said that the earlier SCC2 Brown was still widely in use during the 1944/45 campaign. So you do have a little wiggle room.

[bootneck]

Thanks Graham.

Anyone know if the RAF ever had any in blue, during or after the war? I've seen AEC Matador refuellers in blue/yellow so just wondering what I could do with a K2.

Mike

[Test Graham]

The RAF abandoned its blue-grey some time in 1940, officially not until late in the year but practically much sooner, at least in active areas. It didn't readopt the colour until postwar, and the yellow tops were (I think) later still - certainly not wartime colours. It appears to be darker prewar but this is a matter of finish, for the official colour is the same.

I don't know about the K2's postwar use, but there's a guy called Ted Angus who runs a website for airfield vehicles, and I suggest you ask him.

http://www.airfieldinformationexchange.org/community/forumdisplay.php?33-Airfield-Vehicles

[bootneck]

Thanks again Graham.

Here is my scratchbuilt 1:144 ambulance, waiting for a coat of paint and red crosses. The windscreen and headlights will be added after painting.

[Smiffy]

Wow. She's teenie tiny, but all the more impressive for it.

By coincidence, Ice Cold In Alex is on Film 4, right now (watching it on +1).