MarcB Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Hello, Been looking lately to find a colour scheme for my Classic Airframe Canberra B.2, and found the decals and intructions of the Aeroclub kit. I was surprised to see that the wheel wells inside colour should be black ! The Airfix kits also ask for colour 33 ( I assume it's Humbrol 33 which is...black ! ) Now, I don't want to question John Adams' knowledge about the RAF Canberras 😉, but could anybody confirm that black colour ? Or was it only during the early years (photos on the web show mainly LG or green wells) ? Thank you Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 @John Aero can be trusted implicitly on this score. RAF Canberras started out with black wheel bays, e.g. WE168 which I last saw at Manston in the mid-eighties and XH165 seen at Wyton in the mid seventies, still had them. Being long-lived Canberras could have had silver (painted) wheel bays after their first or second overhaul, and towards the end of their service lives from around the mid eighties (?) white was in vogue. I’ve never seen or heard of RAF Canberras with green or grey-green wheel bays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberra kid Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 It all depends on time frame and to an extent, the manufacturer. There is no hard and fast rule until the introduction of gloss white. Which scheme and aircraft are you thinking of building? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xvtonker Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 I worked on T.4 Canberra's in the late 1970's at RAF Wyton and the U/C bays were painted black, as were the PR.7's of 13Sqn and T.17's of 360 Sqn. The first time I saw a Canberra with white U/C bays was on a visiting TT.18 that had just come off a major servicing. XVTonker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcB Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 4 hours ago, canberra kid said: It all depends on time frame and to an extent, the manufacturer. There is no hard and fast rule until the introduction of gloss white. Which scheme and aircraft are you thinking of building? John John, I'll most probably be B.2 WH640 of No 109 Sqn, Hemswell Feb.1953, in the Hich Altitude Day Bomber scheme. MB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberra kid Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 5 minutes ago, MarcB said: John, I'll most probably be B.2 WH640 of No 109 Sqn, Hemswell Feb.1953, in the Hich Altitude Day Bomber scheme. MB I'll have a look tonight if I have any photos, but for that timeframe, I'd say black, with an outside chance of silver. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcB Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 14 minutes ago, canberra kid said: I'll have a look tonight if I have any photos, but for that timeframe, I'd say black, with an outside chance of silver. John Thank you. There is a photo in the book by Delve, Green & Clemons (p.34) and on the same page another photo of WH649, with the gear retracting, which indeed shows very dark wells. It looks like the inner side of the doors were also painted black ? Black it will be then. MB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberra kid Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 1 hour ago, MarcB said: Thank you. There is a photo in the book by Delve, Green & Clemons (p.34) and on the same page another photo of WH649, with the gear retracting, which indeed shows very dark wells. It looks like the inner side of the doors were also painted black ? Black it will be then. MB That's a good book, I'm working on an update reworked version with Ken Delve in 2 volumes which should be out soon. I'll take a look through my photos to see if I can confirm, but I'd put money on black. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberra kid Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 Hi @MarcB Defo black, she's an early mod B.2, pitot tube under the nose to the left of the secondary bomb aimers window, no mudguard on the nose wheel, three colour ident lights, square treed tiers, fuselage fuel vapor vent, no vent mast. John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcB Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 4 hours ago, canberra kid said: Hi @MarcB Defo black, she's an early mod B.2, pitot tube under the nose to the left of the secondary bomb aimers window, no mudguard on the nose wheel, three colour ident lights, square treed tiers, fuselage fuel vapor vent, no vent mast. John Thanks for the info John, really helpful. I'll keep an eye out for the new book 😀 Marc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberra kid Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 11 hours ago, MarcB said: Thanks for the info John, really helpful. I'll keep an eye out for the new book 😀 Marc No problem Marc, I forgot to add Mk.1 seats. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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