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Lancaster S for Sugar R5868 - Colour Photo


Olmec Head

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I am trying to build the currently 1/72 Airfix Lancaster as POS R5868.  According to the kit painting guide, the camouflage around the cockpit appear to different to the standard pattern with Dark Earth rather than Dark Green.  This is borne out by a colour photo of the aircraft at its 100 ops.  Originally, I thought this had been colourised, but as it seems to be in the IWM collection and ADF gallery as a original colour image.  Does anyone have any opinion please on the veracity of the photo?  And if the colour image in correct, do people think it would remain Dark Green under the cockpit canopy or repainted Dark Earth, although this is probably you pays your money and you take your choice.

 

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Thanks Chris that is the photo that i was looking at, which I presume is originally colour.  There is another colour photo of S for Sugar with 467 Sqn RAAF at the same timescale with red spinners, but I think that one is colourised and a lift from an original B/W photo, possibly for a newspaper article.

 

If the photo is original, it is interesting that the front fuselage has been painted all dark earth on top from the wings forward.  I  have been looking in my old copy (my father's actually) of 'Ton-Up Lancs' by Norman Franks and the B/W photos of the aircraft are not really clear enough to make out the camouflage colour around the cockpit, particularly the earlier photos with 83 Sqn.  That said those B/W photos from the 100 mission event (as at your photo) could indicate that the aircraft was dark earth only around the cockpit.  

 

Mr Franks' book says that the aircraft was overhauled (with the port outer wing being replaced) after a mid air collision over Berlin in late Nov 43!  The overhaul/ repair meant that the aircraft was away from the sqn and did not fly again until Feb 44.  It could be that it was repainted then, but the repair was at the manufacturers, who I would have thought would have followed the standard scheme. 

 

Your photo also seems to show a coiled rope in the aft cockpit, which is interesting as well.

 

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I've blown this up a bit, just to see it a bit better. While the area between the windscreen and the turret does look a bit light, it still looks darker than the colour under the rear side of the canopy. To me, anyway.

 

49884618411_29e21f7465_b.jpg

 

 

 

 

Chris

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A better copy of that picture shows that it is more likely fresh DE paint near the windscreen

 

uQ8DmXi.jpg

 

Sugar had a revised paint scheme after being damaged in July 1944, and returned in service 4 months later after major repairs. Shown here near war end

 

tc9kCk0.jpg

 

O2tBjSI.jpg

 

interesting PDF file on this plane career on the RAF Museum website

 

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/avro-lancaster-1/

 

Laurent

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I still see the front fuselage as dark earth and it could be a repaint and less faded than the rest of airframe as Silberpferd suggests.  It is likely that the airframe was repainted after its repair and overhaul in later 1943.  The other interesting thing is that the horizontal camouflage / black demarcation is higher than the standard camouflage pattern.  The line is along the top line of the windows and this seems to have been the same in its earlier 83 Sqn service.   The latter photos after R5868 to me then shows that the aircraft was repainted to the standard after its later 1944 refit.  The Dark Green around the cockpit is visible in Silberpferd's photos and the demarcation line seems to have dropped down as well.

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