Martlet III, Egypt August 1941

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

        Ok Ive been trying to figure out a second build to enter, did want a jet but nothing Ive got will work. Originally was going to finish a N.F.Meteor but turns out its a 14 not the 13 I would need. So Ive got this a 1/72 Hasegawa Wildcat, I will be building a Martlet III of 805 Sq. F.A.A. Mersa Matruh Egypt August 1941. These were originally bound for Greece but Greece fell before they arrived. So were sent to Egypt. Initially in the overall grey USN colors but I will be adding the Mid-Stone upper camouflage to mine. My research says that they never wire dark earth, I presume the decals are wrong. Later they were repainted in the standard F.A.A. T.S.S..
Here are the obligatory sprue shots. 

 

 

Please feel free to ask questions, post comments or add thoughts. 

 

 

Dennis

Edited March 5, 2021 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[vppelt68]

I think we are getting a decent strength Martlet/Wildcat squadron to go up against them MiG:s . Oh and of course . V-P 

[PeterB]

Hi Dennis,

 

Yes, all my photos show a single light colour on the uppers which would almost certainly be Middle Stone. Not sure about the unders though. In one photo they look fairly dark and in their book on the F4F Kagero have a profile in what they call Mid Stone over Azure Blue, though actually the colour they use looks quite dark - more like "Light Med Blue". As they had to repaint the uppers anyway maybe they did the unders as well? As they were ordered by Greece, I wonder what colours they were in when they left the factory?

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited March 5, 2021 by PeterB

[Tim R-T-C]

The colours are, unlike any other warplanes from WW2 😏, subject to a lot of debate.

 

Osprey Aircraft of the Aces has Middlestone over Azure Blue some sources suggest the planes may have carried all over blue at one point.

 

Like so many arguments it comes down to excessive analysis of a few old photos that, for all we know, might be unrepresentitive of the fleet as a whole!

 

Personally I like stone over blue aesthetically 😁

[PeterB]

Now you mention it Tim, I think I have heard all over blue as well, in fact looking again at the Kagero book it actually says that the "initial scheme of all over Azure Blue" did not work so the upper surfaces were painted Mid Stone. At the end of the day it is up to Dennis and I won't intrude on his build any further

 

Pete

Edited March 5, 2021 by PeterB

[Graham Boak]

The overall Azure Blue does not appear to be credible: it wasn't used on any other fighters in the theatre so why this one?  I suggest it is a much later someone's invention, wishing to explain the overall light colour scheme without realising that it was the original US Navy colour.  Which would appear rather lighter than Azure Blue anyway, I feel.  

 

But once a bad idea gets into the literature...

[PeterB]

31 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

 without realising that it was the original US Navy colour.  Which would appear rather lighter than Azure Blue anyway, I feel.  

 

This one?

Slightly lightened Xtracolour take on M-485 Blue.

 

Pete

Edited March 5, 2021 by PeterB

[Graham Boak]

No, the underside Light Grey.  Sometimes called Neutrality Grey or (nowadays) Light Gull Grey.

[Tim R-T-C]

One imagines an Operation Petticoat type scenario where they are painted all over blue ready for the uppers to be coloured Midstone, then they get called into action and the brown paint supply is destroyed in a bombing so they stick codes and roundels on the blue and fly them like that for a few weeks before more paint arrives 😉

[Graham Boak]

Or indeed all over Purple.  One can imagine all sorts of things.

 

However, as we know they were painted USN Light Grey, and they appear in photos with RAF markings in apparently the same colour...why?  Occam's Razor, if nothing else.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

3 hours ago, PeterB said:

At the end of the day it is up to Dennis and I won't intrude on his build any further

Not intruding I like the discussion as it helps and is enjoyable to read. Until I get to the actual painting anything can happen. Though right now Im still angling towards the Light grey/mid-stone. 

[Tim R-T-C]

1 hour ago, Graham Boak said:

Or indeed all over Purple.  One can imagine all sorts of things.

 

However, as we know they were painted USN Light Grey, and they appear in photos with RAF markings in apparently the same colour...why?  Occam's Razor, if nothing else.

 

I don't believe RAF tropical paint supplies included purple.

 

But they did include Azur Blue.

 

So if the grey paint was worn after the intercontinental transit flight and hot sandy desert environment, when they were repainting the uppers in midstone, they would presumably have used blue for the underside rather than leaving it untreated.

[Graham Boak]

There was no intercontinental transit flight: they were carried on a US carrier(? ship, anyway)  intended for Greece, but were diverted and offloaded because of the fall.  They may have used Azure Blue for the underside after the addition of the Middle Stone top or perhaps the local Middle East Light Blue used before the standardisation and ready availability of Azure Blue.  Without looking at what has been published on the subject I offer no simple answer.  However I do suspect you will find the answer in the works already published.  Probably Paul Lucas'  Britain Alone from Guideline would be the best recent source.

 

But being at the end of the supply line, they would not have painted an aircraft overall in any colour that was then to be immediately overpainted.

[Col.]

Another interesting project Dennis. Regardless of what colour you paint it  

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

        Good morning everyone... Ive finally been able to make a start on this one. First steps after the interior work was done was to fill in certain panel lines. Starting with the cowl by reducing the number of cooling flaps. 

 

Painted and mounted the engine and close up the fuselage. 

Gave it a rough sand on the main seam. 

Next up was to start removing panel lines on the wings, outer guns and wing fold. 

Once that was all done I attached the wings and tail stabs. 

 

 

 

 

Still needs another round of filling and sanding but should be good shortly. Please feel free to ask questions, post comments or add thoughts. 

 

 

Dennis

[TonyOD]

That's looking smart Dennis.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

        Good morning everyone... Well sanding is done, filling is done, so we move onto paint. 
 

 

 

 

 

Please feel free to ask questions, post comments and or add thoughts. 

 

 

Dennis

[JOCKNEY]

Looks great Dennis

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

        Good evening everyone... I was able to get the decals done on this. Sadly didn't realize until after I took the photo’s that the codes were not aligned from side to side. 
 

 

 

 

Please feel free to ask questions, post comments or add thoughts. 

 

Dennis

[stevehnz]

6 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Sadly didn't realize until after I took the photo’s that the codes were not aligned from side to side. 

We won't let on Dennis.   It is looking really good.

Steve.

[Grey Beema]

I rather like that.  Good job Dennis..

[JOCKNEY]

Great stuff Dennis

Cheers Pat 

[AaronKSJ]

Excellent stuff. Like the look of the scheme, I've got the same set if decals in 1/48 too so will it'll be on my to-do list

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

        Good morning everybody ... Sorry for the delay, been busy with other builds. 
 

 

I just need to spray the satin and weather this and shes done. Please feel free to add questions, post comments or add thoughts. 

 

Dennis

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

        Hello everyone ... Well I was able to do the weathering on this and 2 other builds today. Now I can finally wrap this one up over the next few days. 
 

 

 

A Grumman family portrait, F3F center, F4F left, and F6F right. 

If I dig out my bearcat we’d have them all. Please feel free to ask questions, post comments and or thoughts. 

 

 

Dennis