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White recognition stripes


Hamiltonian

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I'm just about to start a build that requires white SEAC recognition stripes on wings and tail, which I've never done before.

My first impulse was to do things backwards, and lay down the white paint first, before masking it off and applying Dark Green and Dark Earth comouflage on top. This is of course unrealistic, and I see build logs in which folks do things the right way round, with the white applied on top of the camouflage.

I'm worried about how many coats of white I might need to apply to get a good result, however - I don't want to obscure moulding detail or have a thick margin to my white stripes.

 

Any tips?

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Scroll down the page to the thread concerning the D-Day Invasion stripes. There are 2 pages of tips as to the best way to paint this sort of thing. You could also practice on a piece of sheet plastic/plastic card with some scribed panel lines to get an idea of how many coats, etc..

HTH

Joe

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I don't see why putting the white on first is unrealistic. Paint the wings white, mask off the parts to remain white, another light coat of white around the edges of the tape followed by the Dark Earth/Dark Green/MSG. When the masking tape is off, you'll probably have a ridge of paint (you would by doing it the other way round too) so a bit of sanding/polishing would be in order.

 

Dark over light is sound practice...not that I ever remember that in time, white stripes and Sky bands always end up being added as an afterthought (I don't practice what I preach).

 

John.

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6 minutes ago, johnd said:

I don't see why putting the white on first is unrealistic. Paint the wings white, mask off the parts to remain white, another light coat of white around the edges of the tape followed by the Dark Earth/Dark Green/MSG. When the masking tape is off, you'll probably have a ridge of paint (you would by doing it the other way round too) so a bit of sanding/polishing would be in order.

 

Dark over light is sound practice...not that I ever remember that in time, white stripes and Sky bands always end up being added as an afterthought (I don't practice what I preach).

 

John.

This is what I originally had in mind. It just occurred to me that since the real white stripes were slapped on over the camouflage, one might reasonably expect some evidence of the camouflage showing through slightly, unless there was a lot of conscientious multiple-coating going on. I haven't found any pictures showing this on real aircraft, however. And the builds I've seen all seem to go for pristine white stripes, although applied on top of the camo. So I was dithering about the best approach.

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When I do mine I generally apply them first (the same with the sky fuselage band etc.) then mask them off and do the camouflage. It's easier to get an even finish that way.

Edited by MilneBay
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My understanding is that the white recognition strips "Invasion Stripes" were painted on overnight. This was in

order not to warn the enemy of first the date of the landings and two make sure the German Aircraft did not

to follow suit.

 

Looking at the result I think that it would be best to paint the white on last to give the correct impression.

The stripes were said to be distemper now taken over by emulsion paint. Distemper was a very thick

substance compared to modern paint

 

After a few weeks the top Invasion Stripes were removed and the remainder soon after.

 

Laurie

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=pictures+of+white+recognition+strips+normandy+landings+being+painted&safe=active&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikvqOy_6vaAhWHZFAKHcm0A8cQ7AkIQQ&biw=1280&bih=599#imgrc=t9coi1N4HKrRjM:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=pictures+of+white+recognition+strips+normandy+landings+being+painted&safe=active&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikvqOy_6vaAhWHZFAKHcm0A8cQ7AkIQQ&biw=1280&bih=599#imgrc=MxWiWLWViP2tJM:

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I suspect that the SEAC stripes were a different kettle of fish from the black/white Normandy markings. The latter, as I understand it, were never meant to be much more than a quick recognition marking for Allied aircraft over the beachheads and in the fighting which followed immediately thereafter, and so were much more temporary. Units started removing them in the first couple of months after the landings. The SEAC stripes were intended to be more long-term in nature, and were applied more carefully - often at MUs. The "light colours first" approach would work much better for them.

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I've seen many pictures of SEA based aircrafts with white stripes and really I can't think of any in which the camouflage showed through. There may have been cases when this happened but on the whole I'd say this was quite unlikely. For this reason I'd just follow the "white first, then camo" approach when building a model.

These stripes were theatre recognition markings and were meant to be standard, they were applied properly and not slapped on with a thin coat of paint. They of course showed a lot of dirt after a while and this is something that may be nice to apply on a model

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1 hour ago, Giorgio N said:

I've seen many pictures of SEA based aircrafts with white stripes and really I can't think of any in which the camouflage showed through. There may have been cases when this happened but on the whole I'd say this was quite unlikely. For this reason I'd just follow the "white first, then camo" approach when building a model.

These stripes were theatre recognition markings and were meant to be standard, they were applied properly and not slapped on with a thin coat of paint. They of course showed a lot of dirt after a while and this is something that may be nice to apply on a model

This is a good point, thanks. "My" aircraft (HB981) was delivered in March 1945, so would very likely have had its stripes added at the MU, rather than applied in the field.

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Putting white before painting the camo. scheme is the best way to go; as Giorgio and the good Admiral Puff write. These were a permanent marking; whereas the D-Day stripes were not intended to be. But, the technique is the same as in the thread I mentioned. Giorgio's point about dirt is a good one; it would make the aircraft a little more interesting.

Joe

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 If you want to replicate the process as it was practiced in reality then by all means apply them last, over the camouflage. If you are into the modern trend of shading panel lines you are likely to loose all that detail as you apply one or two original camouflage paints and then the white over them. 

For most of my modeling I have done it like they did it in the squadrons but lately I have become fond of the shading effects and notice that it should be carried through to the quick recognition elements such as D Day stripes , SEAC stripes and I am trying it out on "painted on roundels". On light elements such as the white stripes or even the red, yellow and white of the roundels it does come through nicely as I am starting to find out on my newest projects. For that you definitely want to put them on first.

The choice is yours, share your thoughts and pictures please.

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7 hours ago, serial modeler said:

 If you want to replicate the process as it was practiced in reality then by all means apply them last, over the camouflage. If you are into the modern trend of shading panel lines you are likely to loose all that detail as you apply one or two original camouflage paints and then the white over them. 

For most of my modeling I have done it like they did it in the squadrons but lately I have become fond of the shading effects and notice that it should be carried through to the quick recognition elements such as D Day stripes , SEAC stripes and I am trying it out on "painted on roundels". On light elements such as the white stripes or even the red, yellow and white of the roundels it does come through nicely as I am starting to find out on my newest projects. For that you definitely want to put them on first.

The choice is yours, share your thoughts and pictures please.

I do shade panel lines, but only after all the paint and decals are on, using a fine brush, a magnifying glass, and LifeColor's Liquid Pigment range - again, this seems like the "natural" order of things. And it does produce a nice uniform shading of the panel lines, so long as they have not been heavily filled with layers of paint or thick decals - the Liquid Pigment needs a definite channel to follow, and I've occasionally had to delicately scribe out some paint, or slit an unwieldy decal, before running the Liquid Pigment into the channel. I'm by no means expert at this, but I feel that I'm moving slowly towards a set of tricks that gives me a result I find pleasing.

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Hi, Hamiltonian,

 

My practice has always been painting the stripes (be them single color or "invasion") after the FIRST camouflage colour, usually the lighter one. You can use it as a handy "preshade", giving you "instant fading" of the stripes, and you do not risk the boundary of the colours (in case it is "hard") showing off. Then, mask the strip and apply the second camouflage colour.

 

FErnando

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On 4/8/2018 at 23:02, Hamiltonian said:

I'm just about to start a build that requires white SEAC recognition stripes on wings and tail, which I've never done before.

My first impulse was to do things backwards, and lay down the white paint first, before masking it off and applying Dark Green and Dark Earth comouflage on top. This is of course unrealistic, and I see build logs in which folks do things the right way round, with the white applied on top of the camouflage.

I'm worried about how many coats of white I might need to apply to get a good result, however - I don't want to obscure moulding detail or have a thick margin to my white stripes.

 

Any tips?

My apologies Hamiltonian. Just caught up with this article. I will attempt to read in detail before replying.

 

Should have noted SEAC recognition not as I did Invasion stripes.

 

A humbled Laurie

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