28ZComeback Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/b/296/9/5 Can anyone shed some light on the all silver Beaufighter in service in Malaya in 1949? Was lack of Gray paint the reason for the overall silver finish? All other aircraft in the Squadron were camouflaged. Thank you very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 (edited) 27 minutes ago, 28ZComeback said: http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/b/296/9/5 Can anyone shed some light on the all silver Beaufighter in service in Malaya in 1949? Was lack of Gray paint the reason for the overall silver finish? All other aircraft in the Squadron were camouflaged. Thank you very much! The one aircraft was stripped back to bare metal and if you look at the link that I sent to you regarding my models you will see a photo of the real thing in the thread too along with a model. It was probably an OC Sqn`s decision to have a silver aircraft,....... maybe because they had some defaulters who needed a shitty job to do? As operations against the CT`s were ramped up up the blokes were far too busy elsewhere to be bothering about stripping paint! Cheers Tony Edited October 25, 2018 by tonyot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28ZComeback Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 I heard from a PR.19 pilot (sadly has since passed away) that at Kai Tek they had to paint the planes “purple” because they ran out of sufficient stores of PRU blue, had to mix it with red paint, and created a colorful yet eyesore of a reconnaissance platform. Upon seeing the Spitfires in such a sad state, the commander made the proper requisitions and within a few days had his blue paint. Not saying this happened with the silver Beau because it was obviously in bare metal in 1947 in Ceylon. Thank you for your photo-upon review it indeed appears bare metal, but still I wonder if it’s silver paint. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tornadofairy Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Pity I left TWCU in 1988;as we were 45Sqn if anything happened... When on 'teas and keys' late at night, I would sometimes pop into the 'other' crewroom and look through the photo albums... Fascinating stuff, Fairy IIIF's, Venoms and Hornets etc. Tried photocopying some, but not very clear, so no use for modelling.... Could the finish be anything to do with being in Ceylon, or official paint schemes in 1947? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28ZComeback Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 That is what I suspect. Overall high speed silver while on some temporary duty in Ceylon. Sometimes the most practical answer is the best—once the war was over, it was best to be in as high a visibility scheme as possible, especially when operating over the Pacific or jungles of Asia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 I`ve dug out my copy of Air Britain`s ` The Flying Camels' about 45 Sqn and it states that; After our sleek silver Mosquitoes the chunky new Beaufighter`s were a sombre lot in their warpaint (both Ocean Grey/Dk Green/MSG and also maritime EDSG/Sky, ex 84 Sqn),....... it later goes on to say that one of the new arrivals in the initial batch was `all silver (and there may have been another) which was very unusual, if not unique for a Beaufighter on an operational squadron`,.... (although the RAAF did have some too!) ,...... there was no doubt about the OB codes however; these were boldly applied in black`. RD776, OB-B arrived on 45 Sqn on 12.12.46,...and crashed asymetrically at Negombo on 16.5.47, killing the pilot Flying Officer R.M. Currie. Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28ZComeback Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 (edited) Thank you Tony! This is great information and an inspiration to leaf through my life old periodicals from the 1947-1953 period. I would like to get a copy of the Air Britain Squadron 45 publication. I thought for some reason that the all silver RD776 made it to Changi in 1947. In fact I have a photo (somewhere) of a silver Beaufighter landing at Changi or Kallang. The shot is at an extreme distance but it appears silver. Given that RD776 crashed in Ceylon, it appears there must have been other silver Beaufighters in the mix. Would you agree? Edited October 26, 2018 by 28ZComeback Sp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28ZComeback Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 Here is a link to a remembrance from a RAF Changi vet. Great photos including a Beaufighter landing. It is smallish but looks silver to me )but could be overall grey.) https://sites.google.com/site/nvquinnell/part7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 3 hours ago, 28ZComeback said: Thank you Tony! This is great information and an inspiration to leaf through my life old periodicals from the 1947-1953 period. I would like to get a copy of the Air Britain Squadron 45 publication. I thought for some reason that the all silver RD776 made it to Changi in 1947. In fact I have a photo (somewhere) of a silver Beaufighter landing at Changi or Kallang. The shot is at an extreme distance but it appears silver. Given that RD776 crashed in Ceylon, it appears there must have been other silver Beaufighters in the mix. Would you agree? No worries mate! As the book say`s, there is a chance that there could have been a second one with 45 Sqn,...... but who knows eh? The photo could have been RD776,... or another 45 Sqn aircraft, it is too small to see anything like codes etc...... it could even be a Beaufighter TT.10 target tug,... which were based at Selatar,....... although judging by the other pics it could be a bit early for a target tug? Here are some Beau TT.10`s and some other silver Beau`s; Seletar based Beau TT`s; And some other RAF Beau TT.10`s abroad and in the UK; The Aussies had a few silver Beau`s during the war and here are a couple; And after the war they had their own Beau target tugs too; All the best Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Durbon Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 (edited) Really cool pics. Thank you for sharing. One question. Is this silver the nature aluminium surface on the T.T.'s or is this silver dope lacquer? Cheers Edited October 26, 2018 by Taylor Durbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 (edited) “Silver”.RAF aircraft were painted aluminium, not bare metal, late-war Mustangs, Liberators, Thunderblots, B-17s, English Electric Lightnings and a solitary Javelin F(AW)9 excepted. RAF Sabres and Hercules (Herculeses; Herculi?) were delivered in bare aluminium but were painted prior to acceptance into service. Edited March 25, 2023 by stever219 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cellarfrog Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 Hello! This is a very interesting thread and exaclty what I was looking for, alas the links to the photos of a silver or bare metal Beaus are all expired and my google searching has also not turned up anything. Does anyone by chance have any current links to old photos of silver Beaufighters? Very much appreciated in advance! CF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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