RAF Roundel Red

[11bravo]

I'm decaling my 32th Tamiya Mosquito and noticed a difference in the red used on the RAF roundels from the kit's decals to various aftermarket decals.    I'm going with Avieology's decals and their red is more of a brownish toned brick red   The kit markets are more of brighter red shade.   Was there variation in this color?  Anyone have a good color picture that might show the correct tone?  I know this is a bit hard to define based on old pictures, just figured I would ask.

 

Regards,

 

John

[Graham Boak]

The wartime colour was indeed a brick red, and I would trust Aviaeology before any kit manufacturer.  Having said that, there could well be some variation, not least after weathering.  However, any colour photo is likely to be unreliable to this level of detail.  There are a number of colour photos available of the Banff wing Mosquitos: your posting implies one of these but doesn't make it clear.

[stever219]

I've always found the reds used by Tamiya (and Hasegawa) somewhat suspect, othen bearing more resemblance to the brighter pre-war Red or a dark cherry red.

 

I've had no experience with Aviaeology's products but the much-missed Modeldecal were very good, on the whole, with colour matching bearing in mind the state of the art in their heyday but, sadly, they didn't cater for 1/32th Misquitos.  Airfix's current printers (Cartograf?) usually don't seem to be too far out (I do wish they'd done the Nimrod sheet) but sadly no 1/32th action there.

[FinnAndersen]

Go with Avieology's decals. What is important, is that the red (or indeed all colours) is consistent in all national markings.

 

This is what a spectator sees, not that the colour may be off compared to other decals.

[Troy Smith]

2 hours ago, 11bravo said:

Anyone have a good color picture that might show the correct tone? 

 

Brand new Mosquito.

 

New Mosquito. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

New Mosquito, 1944 by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

Mosquito ,   c1944. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

Mosquito FB Mk.VI, May 1945. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

from

https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=8270787@N07&q=mosquito

 

more period colour Mosquito pics.

[JackG]

I find the Avieology decals I have are a bit too dark (Typhoon set), but they are correct in having subdued colours as opposed to being bright.  Comparing to Nick Millman's pdf file on British paints,  both the red and blue could be less dark.

 

Closest match I can find in digital paint form is Pantone 1685 C.

 

 

regards,

Jack

 

 

Edited October 25, 2020 by JackG

[11bravo]

On 10/25/2020 at 11:06 AM, Troy Smith said:

 

Brand new Mosquito.

 

 

from

https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=8270787@N07&q=mosquito

 

more period colour Mosquito pics.

Troy - thanks very much for those pictures, aside from KK-P, I've never seen any of these before.  Really liked the shot of that brand new Mossie.  Also shows to good effect the color of the red dope that was used.    Also really like "Red D".   It's a great example for weathering, has to be one of the filthiest Mosquito's I've seen.  

 

I do have to ask, any chance these are colorized pictures?   

 

Regards,

 

John

[Troy Smith]

7 hours ago, 11bravo said:

I do have to ask, any chance these are colorized pictures?   

AFAIK, no.   This flickr stream is @Etiennedup, and he has been collecting an collating period colour images for a few years now.   

colorised images tend to be famous ones,  period WW2 colour is pretty random in it's selection,  and many are known images from years ago. 

Occasionally new period colour turns up as well. 

note 

from

https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=8270787@N07&q=mosquito

 

if you change the aircraft type after the = sign,  then it will just search for that instead.

 

for example

https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=8270787@N07&q=spitfire

 

make it an easy way to search, and there are some great images,  and they are really good for getting a feel of how the airframes stain and weather.

 

HTH