Humbrol colours for Spitfire and Mustang Pilots ?

[100SQN]

Are there any resources or recommendations for which Humbrol colours to use for painting Spitfire and Mustang pilots ?

Any help would be much appreciated

Simon

[iainpeden]

"flesh" would be a good start.

[Black Knight]

The colours I use;

Humbrol paint numbers thus [..]

Spitfire/Mustang pilots - RAF

Helmet & oxygen mask - dark brown [10]

Uniform/flying suit - early war; dirty white [34] or darkish blue [eg; 79, 96 or 144] mid-war; just dark blue [144] : late war; dirty white, dark blue or light khaki [72]

Boots - semi gloss black [85] with dirty white or tan [9] around the tops

Gloves/hands - dark [10] or light [9] brown or flesh

Spitfire/Mustang pilots - USAAF

Helmet & oxygen mask - dark brown [10]

Uniform/flying suit - light khaki [72] or medium olive drab [86]

Boots - semi gloss black [85] or dark brown [10]

Gloves/hands - dark [10] or light [9] brown or flesh

Matt varnish overall except for boots.

Flesh colour according to ethinicity of the pilot. I use a 'tanned flesh' by MP for caucasian/white and mix a darkish brown for coloured figures.

hth

[100SQN]

The colours I use;

Humbrol paint numbers thus [..]

Spitfire/Mustang pilots - RAF

Helmet & oxygen mask - dark brown [10]

Uniform/flying suit - early war; dirty white [34] or darkish blue [eg; 79, 96 or 144] mid-war; just dark blue [144] : late war; dirty white, dark blue or light khaki [72]

Boots - semi gloss black [85] with dirty white or tan [9] around the tops

Gloves/hands - dark [10] or light [9] brown or flesh

Spitfire/Mustang pilots - USAAF

Helmet & oxygen mask - dark brown [10]

Uniform/flying suit - light khaki [72] or medium olive drab [86]

Boots - semi gloss black [85] or dark brown [10]

Gloves/hands - dark [10] or light [9] brown or flesh

Matt varnish overall except for boots.

Flesh colour according to ethinicity of the pilot. I use a 'tanned flesh' by MP for caucasian/white and mix a darkish brown for coloured figures.

hth

Thanks Black Knight, that's great

Simon

[Wez]

RAF Mae West (life jacket) and USAAF fighter pilot life jacket - Yellow (99 or 24/154 toned down)

Depends on the scale, 99 is a lemon yellow, not too overpowering, 24 and 154 are much stronger yellows and might be a bit overpowering in a small scale.

Regarding the uniforms, it wasn't unusual for RAF aircrew to wear army battledress colours or a mix (khaki jacket with blue trousers), this was particularly the case around D-Day.

RAF Irvine jackets - those are the leather flying jackets with the sheep skin liners are a dark brown.

Then you've got the RAF Desert Air Force colouring which could be a mix of Khaki Drill (KD) which is a light khaki and darker khaki battledress jacket.

Far East I'm not so sure but would expect them to be wearing KD.

As you can see, there is a bit more to your question than you may have thought, pilots being pilots will often ignore the regulations and wear what they found comfortable.

The Osprey "Aces" books have paintings of some of the famous pilots in the various uniform variations.

Wez

Edited February 1, 2015 by Wez

[Black Knight]

Durn, I forgot the first item Wez has mentioned; the Mae West. I use 24 on top of the uniform colour. It goes on thin, the under colour affecting it, therefore its not too bright.

[Wez]

Durn, I forgot the first item Wez has mentioned; the Mae West. I use 24 on top of the uniform colour. It goes on thin, the under colour affecting it, therefore its not too bright.

Perhaps you need to watch this...

[Black Knight]

oi, I ressemble that. Don't you know that was inspired by me?

[John]

This might help:

http://www.onesixth.co.uk/vb4forum/showthread.php?514-RAF-Fighter-Pilot-1940-Battle-of-Britain

John