Royal Thai Air Force - Spitfire PR.XIX Spinner Colour ?

[Tiger331]

 

Hi Folks,

 

Entering the closing stages of completion on a Royal Thai Air Force Spitfire PR.XIX. I have both the Aeromaster and Model Alliance sheets for this model and have already ascertained that the latter is the more accurate, with correctly sized roundels (of the right quantity too) and black (as opposed to white) serial numbers. The only potential issue is the colour of the spinner since I have al least three interpretations !. The Aeromaster sheet ops for PRU Blue, to match the undersurfaces, Model Alliance suggests it is White and at least one of the on-line references quotes Yellow !. 

 

I have found on on-line photo that purportedly shows two RTAF Airmen standing on the wing of a PR.XIX where the colour seems to match that of the fuselage but another, rather poor quality, photo of an abandoned RTAF PR.XIX clearly shows a much lighter coloured spinner (White or Yellow ?).   

 

Does anyone have any definitive information to resolve this conundrum ?

 

Thanks

 

Mark 

[alt-92]

There are pictures of PS888 in RThAF service floating about that show a light coloured spinner (either yellow or white), and overpainted RAF roundels with the Thai Roundels slightly aft of that.
Depends on which one of the four you are doing?

[Tiger331]

1 minute ago, alt-92 said:

There are pictures of PS888 in RThAF service floating about that show a light coloured spinner (either yellow or white), and overpainted RAF roundels with the Thai Roundels slightly aft of that.
Depends on which one of the four you are doing?

PS888........One of the colour side profiles with the aircraft sporting a yellow spinner is from the well renowned artist Richard Caruana who prides himself on his research but I am inclined towards the White.

 

Mark

[Wulfman]

Looks like white to me, guess we’ll never know !

 

Wulfman

[Blimpyboy]

Siam Scale decal sheet SSN 72018 shows a grey colour for the Mk.19.

 

There are two variants covered in the sheet - a Mk.14 and a Mk.19.

The sheet calls for Gunze H62 (IJA grey) for the Mk.19's spinner and Gunze H327 (gloss red) for the Mk.14's spinner.

 

Pictures of the sheet instructions are here:

http://www.modelivery.com/product.detail_328339_en_1435937

and

https://picclick.com/Siam-Scale-1-48-RTAF-Spitfire-Mk-14-Mk-223986903958.html#&gid=1&pid=1

 

Hopefully, this has not muddied the waters...

Edited July 2, 2020 by Blimpyboy

[Blimpyboy]

These pages may be of some assistance (bearing in mind the Thais also called all Spitfire variants the BKh 14 - บ.ข.14 or บข.๑๔):

http://rach1968.blogspot.com/2019/10/supermarine-spitfire-in-thailand.html

and

http://rach1968.blogspot.com/2014/09/blog-post_4.html

and

http://www.wings-aviation.ch/11-RTAF/2-Aircraft/Supermarine-Spitfire/Fighter.htm

(this last link includes a yellow-spinnered PS888 (it's a profile, so, take it with the usual grain of salt).

 

 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Blimpyboy

[Tiger331]

Thanks for your inputs (especially Blimpyboy with some previously unseen references for the Mk.XIV). Based on what I had read/researched and now been advised, I think I will opt for either White or a Very Light Grey (clearly lighter in shade than the upper surfaces grey colour). Although several profiles show a Yellow Spinner I think this is too fanciful although I guess to could be a possibility since the Mk.XIVs are definitely showing a tendency towards a red coloured spinner and the RTAF may have wanted to positively distinguish between the two Marks ?. Nevertheless, unless I receive further evidence to the contrary, I intend to finish the Mk.XIX spinner in the aforementioned White or Very Light Grey shade.

 

Thanks again for your input.

 

Mark 

[TonyOD]

This takes me back. My very first build years ago was the Airfix PR XIX, newly issued at the time. I built PS888 in its original RAF guise, before realising that the fuselage roundels were the wrong size. I got so hung up about this apparent inaccuracy that I refinished the Spit to represent the same plane later in its career with the Thai AF. Surely it must just be a case of switching the roundels and tail flash, right? After all, why would they go to the trouble of repainting the spinner? 

 

And now, something like 11 years later, I find out that the spinner might have been the wrong colour! You just can't win! 😢

 

Enjoy the build, whatever colour its nose turns out to be. 😁

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by TonyOD

[Tiger331]

TonyOD,

 

Thanks for the comments.........you could well be right about the retention of the original spinner colour. It is most likely that I will opt for White anyway.

[Work In Progress]

We have no reason to assume the spinner remained the same colour throughout a prolonged period of service, so I would not get too exercised about it. Spinner caps are trivially easy to repaint, and frequently personalised at a unit or individual level literally overnight. Backplates less so, because getting it off is much more of a job, but prop changes and engine changes happen, and components get swapped between airframes.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Work In Progress