RAF Code colors and other questions

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Hello everyone... Im trying to lock down some info on R.A.F Codes. I know Sky codes were used but I have an Aviaeology Hurricane decal set AOD72007.1 from the B.o.B.. My first question regards the color of the codes. All of them in the decal set are in Medium sea grey, for the summer/fall of 1940 is that correct ? If not its not a big deal as I can use them for later projects where grey codes were used. Also was white or very light grey ever used ? I know things changed for theatres and timeframes. But Im after mostly the 1939-1940 time frame. Though if there is a definitive source that can be linked to that would be great. 
 

Second Question : I'm trying to find a Spitfire to Seafire family tree. In other words what were the equivalents or closest Marks of Spitfire to each model of Seafire. Id like to have it for future reference for some builds. Of course any help received is gratefully acknowledged. 
 

Dennis

[Graham Boak]

1.  Early codes were all MSG as far as I know.  There has been some discussion as to whether the original colour was exactly the same, but near enough.

 

2. Seafire Mk.I to III are Spitfires Mk.V - the L prefix on a Seafire is the same as the LF on a Spitfire.

   Seafire XV and XVII are Spitfire XIIs

   Seafire 40 series are Spitfire 20 series.  45 = 21. 

[fishplanebeer]

I've always found the Seafire III a bit tricky as although it had the Merlin 50 series engine, similar length as the 45 fitted to the Spit V, there are lots of photos which show it having a 4-blade prop, individual exhaust stacks, enlarged carburettor intake and later style tail planes all of which suggest it was a variant of the Mk8/9 Spit - but obviously not.

 

Thanks for clarifying this for me.

 

Colin.

[fishplanebeer]

Sorry just to add, courtesy of the excellent book on the Spit by Morgan & Shacklady.

 

The MkIII Seafire had the Merlin 55 series engine which offered certain advantages over the Merlin 45 series installed in the Spit V but which otherwise looked the same externally when installed in terms of overall length of the fuselage. The intake under the port wing also remained the same as the Spit V, being circular in profile and not the later symmetrical 'flat' arrangement adopted for the Merlin 60/70 engine variants of the Spit.

 

All very confusing at first glance if you are a novice, like myself, when it comes to Seafires and their nearest Spit equivalent as Seafires seem to have also used/adopted various Spit related modifications during their production by Supermarine.

 

Colin.

[Work In Progress]

Battle of Britain day fighter codes: Medium Sea Grey, absolutely no controversy there.

Graham's diagnosis of the nearest Spitfire marks to each Seafire is entirely correct.

 

Given that these two questions are completely unrelated  - and one of them veers completely out of WW2 into Cold War - would it not have been better to do them as two threads?

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

1 hour ago, Work In Progress said:

Battle of Britain day fighter codes: Medium Sea Grey, absolutely no controversy there.

Graham's diagnosis of the nearest Spitfire marks to each Seafire is entirely correct.

 

Given that these two questions are completely unrelated  - and one of them veers completely out of WW2 into Cold War - would it not have been better to do them as two threads?

Probably but I was writing and the second question just popped in to my oversized cranium so I added it. 

[72modeler]

19 hours ago, fishplanebeer said:

I've always found the Seafire III a bit tricky as although it had the Merlin 50 series engine, similar length as the 45 fitted to the Spit V, there are lots of photos which show it having a 4-blade prop, individual exhaust stacks, enlarged carburettor intake and later style tail planes all of which suggest it was a variant of the Mk8/9 Spit - but obviously not.

 

Thanks for clarifying this for me.

 

Colin.

You must be aware of this beauty, which has all but the enlarged, broader chord rudder; a beautiful and faithful restoration! The other most impressive Seafire restoration is Doc Cooper's gorgeous Mk XV, based in Missouri here in the colonies. A Griffon-powered Spit in TSS? It doesn't get any better!

Mike

 

https://www.flyinglegends.com/aircraft/supermarine-seafire-lf-iii.html 

 

http://www.salute.org/Seafire.html

[fishplanebeer]

Mike,

 

Two absolute beauties!

 

To a Spit nut who has only had a casual interest in the Seafire up until now I'd have said on first impression that this III was a Spit 9b, how wrong I would have been.

 

Kind Regards

Colin.

[Mark Harmsworth]

I always thought that anything from Aviaeology would be more correct than anything else on the planet.

 

Sort of jokey that but I do think they set a high standard for research and quality.

Mark

[warhawk]

On 7/14/2020 at 8:38 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I'm trying to find a Spitfire to Seafire family tree. In other words what were the equivalents or closest Marks of Spitfire to each model of Seafire.

 

Please see HERE.

Cannot guarantee it's 100% accurate, though.

 

Regards,

Aleksandar

[Giorgio N]

Whenever looking at a member of the Spitfire family, the type of engine is often the most important distinction as, apart from structural changes on some variants, a lot of other details could vary even within the same variant.

The Seafire III / Spitfire V is a good example of this: yes, the Seafire III had 4 blade prop, individual exhast stacks and tailplanes with the larger compensation horn, but these details are not what tells a V from a IX apart. So much that both the individual exhausts and later tailplanes were seen on several Mk.Vs late in the war. The 4 blade propeller was not used on the Mk.V but was used on the Mk.VI, that was in most aspects a derivative of the Mk.V.

What really matters is that both the Mk.V and the Seafire III (and I and II) had a Merlin engine with single stage compressor. the Spitfire Mk.IX had a Merlin engine with two-stage compressor. The change in engine type required a different arrangement of the radiators and a different length of the engine cowling and the Seafire I to III shared these same features with the Spitfire V.

The Seafire XV shared the same Griffon with single stage compressor of the XII, so in this sense it is related to this variant. Many other details were however different, from the radiator arrangements to the intake. Still, the use of the same engine puts the XII as its closest land based equivalent.