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Spitfire DFS Camo - late war change in scheme?


alt-92

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Just curious.. 

While working on 4 Spits at the same time, and checking the DFS camouflage pattern, I noticed that the DG patch on the starboard side beneath the cockpit appears to change.

Most profiles end up with an almost horizontal demarcation on the 'lobe' between DG & OG like this:

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In fact, many pictures show that as well:

 

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But there is also this type, which you almost never see on any paint instruction or mask set:

 

WW2_Castle_Bromwich_Supermarine_Spitfire

(CBAF apron, ready for delivery - 1944 thereabouts from the Nx*** & Px*** serials)

 

Is this the 'freehand' option from a slip of the masking mats or an AP we missed?

 

 

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Two different factories, 2 slightly different versions of the same general pattern.

 

FY-F has what was intended as the 'official' pattern, but when somebody made up the diagrams at CBAF that were followed they made it slightly different.

 

Just follow whatever it shows on photos of the particular airframe you wish to model.

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1 hour ago, Hornet133 said:

Just follow whatever it shows on photos of the particular airframe you wish to model.

Therein lies the rub: There are only post-war pics.

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And not every subject has a photo of it - just details from an ORB or logbook sometimes. Pilot Sprog flew aircraft 'X', serial 'AB000' in '00' Squadron with squadron codes 'XX'.

 

Different camouflage demarcations makes it a bit tricky for those who want to get a bit more accuracy into their build. That is a good pick up. Perhaps others will chime in here with some other details of differences between factories when it comes to markings.

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Early in the war Spitfires (& Hurricanes) were painted using A & B patterns, A for even numbered serials, B for odd.  I know this practice stopped at some point and they reverted to a single pattern.  When was?  Was it this A or B and did that pattern change as the war went on?  Would this be a good premise to consider camouflage patterns?

 

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12 minutes ago, Grey Beema said:

Was it this A or B and did that pattern change as the war went on?

A/B alternate schemes in Fighter Command went away with the introduction of DFS afaik

From then on only A pattern remained, but apparently with some minor differences in finish depending on who handled the spray gun :)

 

 

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It is mentioned in Paul Lucas' booklet on 1941: Britain Alone, as beginning from January 1941.  The change to DFS was in August.  Most companies used A, some B.  The examples quoted are both B, Whitleys and Beaufighters.

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On 6/13/2020 at 7:45 PM, alt-92 said:

Just curious.. 

While working on 4 Spits at the same time, and checking the DFS camouflage pattern, I noticed that the DG patch on the starboard side beneath the cockpit appears to change.

Most profiles end up with an almost horizontal demarcation on the 'lobe' between DG & OG like this:

...

 

(CBAF apron, ready for delivery - 1944 thereabouts from the Nx*** & Px*** serials)

 

Is this the 'freehand' option from a slip of the masking mats or an AP we missed?

 

 

Very interesting. I have never seen this before on photos of spitfires in squadrons, so it might be something that was fixed before the aircraft was issued to a squadron.

 

As to the cause, well, it certainly looks intentional, as all the planes have it, but why? God knows...

 

/Finn

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I have copies of 4 manufacturers colour scheme drawings (non are Spitfires) and it is noticeable that whilst the points on the edges where the colours change are given fixed dimensions the curves of the scheme are left to the skill of the painter to follow. So if schemes were painted free-hand there would be some variation in the pattern.  

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That’s a very interesting photo, and the first time I have seen that variation. Also the Ocean Grey appears to be a lighter shade than usual , something I’ve noticed on late war Spitfires, especially on export ones. Does anybody know of a change of specification at about this time ? 


Wulfman

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Not that I've seen reference to, but when Paul Lucas raised a similar point some years  back in a magazine it unleashed a torrent of comment.  There's no doubt that OG can appear lighter in some photos, and this can be explained by variations in the film/filter used to take the photo.  I suspect that this is what we are seeing here.  The period is too late for there to be any confusion with the Mixed Grey recommended for use as OG entered service, which is usually described as darker.

 

However there are a number of photos where the OG appears dark in one place on an aircraft yet light in others, which is rather difficult to explain.

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The variation in the scheme shown in this picture was quite common in late production aircraft. If it's rarely seen in squadron service is only because pictures of late war Spitfires don't seem to be published as often as those taken earlier in the war.

Many of the Spitfires that ended in Czechoslovakia after the war show this variation while others have another subtle variation where the "horizontal" part of the camo is replaced by two "waves" ( see for example the cover of the Eduard 1/144 combo box)

The scheme shown in the picture in the original post was also quite common on Spitfire XVis

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/15/2020 at 10:53 AM, Giorgio N said:

Many of the Spitfires that ended in Czechoslovakia after the war show this variation while others have another subtle variation where the "horizontal" part of the camo is replaced by two "waves" ( see for example the cover of the Eduard 1/144 combo box)

The scheme shown in the picture in the original post was also quite common on Spitfire XVis

By the way, I only just noticed these are e-wing Spits :banghead:

So maybe that's another clue. I do know post-war exports were done in the same demarcation pattern, as the IXc's the RNLAF bought in 1946 wore it.

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