MatthewAV8B Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Evening all , hope you are looking forward to the weekend I have a Revell Hunter on the bench currently approaching the painting stage and I need to make a decision regarding the underbelly colour.... (RAF Scheme of course) Revell asks for Aluminium on the underside but the box art and some pictures would suggest otherwise. After some of my own reading I cant decide as I get a real mixed bag of answers. So i'll put it to my fellow Britmodellers ; what are peoples approach to doing the underbelly? I'd be interested to hear what you all do! Stay safe and Happy Landings. Regards - Matthew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Basically; If its RAF Germany based it would have been PRU Blue underneath early on then silver aluminium paint later - post 1969 afair If UK based then it it would have been painted aluminium [not nmf] 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Hello As Black Knight said. However, from mid 1966 on lower surfaces had been repainted with Light Aircraft Grey. Cheers Jure 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truro Model Builder Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 Only a very small number of RAFG F.4s received PRU blue undersides, maybe single figures. The vast majority, like other RAF Hunters, were painted high speed silver. As Jure mentions, this gave way to light aircraft in the mid-1960s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenMG Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 5 hours ago, Truro Model Builder said: Only a very small number of RAFG F.4s received PRU blue undersides, maybe single figures. The vast majority, like other RAF Hunters, were painted high speed silver. As Jure mentions, this gave way to light aircraft in the mid-1960s. 100% agreed. Don't do PRU Blue unless it's one of the very small number of 118 Sqn F.4s (e.g. WT748) that were finished in it. Earlier than mid-1960s it's High Speed Silver (I use Citadel Mithril SIlver, or whatever it's called now) after that, Light Aircraft Grey. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 9 hours ago, Truro Model Builder said: Only a very small number of RAFG F.4s received PRU blue undersides, maybe single figures. The vast majority, like other RAF Hunters, were painted high speed silver. As Jure mentions, this gave way to light aircraft in the mid-1960s. Don't think there were any F4 still in service in the RAF when they went over to LAG in the late 1960's. By that time the only operator of this model was the RN with the GA11. Selwyn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truro Model Builder Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Selwyn said: Don't think there were any F4 still in service in the RAF when they went over to LAG in the late 1960's. By that time the only operator of this model was the RN with the GA11. Selwyn No, there weren't. I was referring to RAF Hunters generally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo88 Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 On 13/02/2021 at 18:30, StephenMG said: 100% agreed. Don't do PRU Blue unless it's one of the very small number of 118 Sqn F.4s (e.g. WT748) that were finished in it. Earlier than mid-1960s it's High Speed Silver (I use Citadel Mithril SIlver, or whatever it's called now) after that, Light Aircraft Grey. I have heard of 118 Sqn Hunters with PRU blue undersides but thought there was some dispute regarding photographic proof. In black and white images it's very hard to determine what is blue and what is silver. The question arose in an old copy of Scale Aircraft Modelling, I believe. A PRU blue and camouflage Hunter would make a lovely subject. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenMG Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Timbo88 said: I have heard of 118 Sqn Hunters with PRU blue undersides but thought there was some dispute regarding photographic proof. In black and white images it's very hard to determine what is blue and what is silver. The question arose in an old copy of Scale Aircraft Modelling, I believe. A PRU blue and camouflage Hunter would make a lovely subject. A couple of years I did the artwork for the Pen & Sword FlightCraft Hawker Hunter book. One of the subjects I was keen to draw was one of the 'PRU Blue' Hunters from RAFG but I'd also heard there was some dispute over their existence. There is anecdotal evidence from personnel that were there at the time that at least one Hunter was spotted with blue undersides. There is also a black and white photo of F.4 WT748 taken at Bruggen which appears to show blue undersides, albeit with the usual problems of interpreting colour from a monochrome photo. However, it does show very little contrast between the Dark Sea Grey of the camo and the underside colour - very similar to the level of contrast seen in photos of RAFG Swifts and much less than you normally see with Hunters. Handily I found a photo of a Swift and Hunter in flight together. That was useful in confirming the contrast between the under- and upper-side colours of the Swift (which matched the photo of WT748) and also showed the significantly higher contrast between the upper- and under-sides of the Hunter which had its usual High Speed Silver finish. The killer evidence for me though, and what convinced me that WT748 was indeed finished in PRU Blue, was found by closer examination of the Bruggen photo. Firstly, the main gear leg of a second Hunter was visible under the belly of WT748. This was crucial as it showed a second aircraft under exactly the same lighting conditions. The colour on those gear doors was very much lighter than WT748 and exactly what you'd expect to see for High Speed Silver. The difference was such that it can only be due to differing paint colours, especially as the lighting conditions were identical for both. Secondly, as was normal with Hunters, the gun pack had clearly been changed and a pack in the usual High Speed Silver had been fitted. This showed a very much lighter colour than the rest of the undersides. Also, it appeared that the radio bay doors had been replaced - they too showing the same difference in colour. Thirdly, the starboard link collector (forward section) although matching the 'blue' of the undersides had very clear scuff marks on it, as you'd get when the collector was removed and placed outside-down on the tarmac. That scuffing allowed a very much lighter colour (aluminium) to show through. Whether any other Hunters were finished in PRU Blue is anyone's guess (it doesn't help that 118 was such a short-lived squadron) but I'm now sure that WT748 was and so I based my profile for the book on that Bruggen photo. (Sorry for the novel!) Edited February 14, 2021 by StephenMG 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 @StephenMG: Beautiful artwork of a handsome aircraft! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackem01 Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Ooh tasty! May have to purchase another Airfix kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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