Jump to content

Weathering – New paint-job, long journey...


Xenol

Recommended Posts

I am embarking on a project to create a fictional Wellington from the book, 'Biggles Breaks the silence' (WIP thread including graphic of the paint scheme I want to attempt here:

 

Now the aircraft in question was a requisitioned surplus military aircraft, adapted for 'British Antarctic Expedition'. I have chosen to go for a mainly white colour scheme with red visibility stripes.

 

How much weathering would such an aircraft expect to pick up on the long journey from the Uk down to the Antarctic, especially considering the repaint would probably have been done in a hurry. Also, do you think it would be worth me doing a rough approximation of the original camouflage livery as a layer under the final white, with the idea that it'd show through slightly suggesting a quick paint-job. Might be an opportunity to use the hairspray technique to show the white paint peeling in places?

 

I look forward to your suggestions.

 

Apologies if this should be in tips instead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Realistically any loss of a hasty paint job in such a short time would be dependent on what weather it flew through on the journey. If it went through a significant duration of flight through rain it would quite possibly lose all the white from the leading edges of the flying surfaces, and the very nose. This would be airflow-predictable, not random clumps and flakes, and feathered away very finely within a new scale inches of the leading edges. No big lumps or chips.

Obviously white shows dirt and oil like crazy and by the time it reached the Antarctic  it would show much of the oil staining typical of any white-undersided Coastal Command aircraft. Quite a lot of grimy foot and handprints too.

But the question of how much you want to have showing through the broad expanses is really a question of how whether you want to imagine your fictional repaint as a quick one-coat flash-over overnight, or two coats assuming an extra 24 hours of prep. I don't think I've read the book so you'll have to decide that for yourself.

On the other hand if they stayed out of cloud or above cloud, which they would certainly aim to do once in any cold climate, any loss of paint would be minimal and the effect would be limited to grubbiness.

The Wellington is not an aeroplane well suited to flight in icing conditions and any airman as experienced as Biggles would do his best to stay clear of cloud or precipitation at low temps. But of course they might still have flown through rain in the early warmer stages of the journey.

What time of year is the book set in?

Edited by Work In Progress
such appalling typing
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the insights WIP – the book doesn't really go into great details of the voyage or preparation. The expedition was a ruse to cover up their real goal, so I'd imagine that any paint job they did would be on the cheap as it were. Book was set in the same year as published; 1949 I believe.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a suggestion - for the weathering of a hurried white paint job over camouflage, why not look at some photos of the surrender Japanese Betty's that were painted in much the same manner?

 

w8py6kzfou611.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Tail-Dragon said:

Just a suggestion - for the weathering of a hurried white paint job over camouflage, why not look at some photos of the surrender Japanese Betty's that were painted in much the same manner?

 

w8py6kzfou611.jpg

Good call! There's some nice high-res photos online i can use as reference. Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...