1930s Tiger Moth propellers, painted black or not?

[TheKinksFan]

I'm building simultaneously a 1/72 Amodel Gipsy Moth and a Tiger Moth from Airfix. The Amy Johnson aircraft has a wooden unpainted propeller, but I'm not sure if I should paint the Tiger Moth propeller black with yellow tips or make it wooden. My chosen scheme is from Xtradecal X72204, G-ADVZ, from 1935. Were the black propellers also wooden, but the spinner was metal? What does the period photos suggest, were the black propeller already common in the 1930s? 

 

Regards 

Simon

[Roger Holden]

On 03/05/2023 at 22:08, TheKinksFan said:

 What does the period photos suggest, were the black propeller already common in the 1930s? 

 

 

No, the black props with yellow tips were strictly a WW2-military thing.  Typical pre-war was varnished wood central boss area, but blades were fabric covered and painted grey. Polished metal nose cap.  Most wooden props on British aircraft were wholly or partly covered in fabric and painted, starting around 1915, to prevent rain and dust/grit erosion of the blades. One of my pet hates on models is seeing models of 1930s British aircraft with 'wood' coloured props.....

[Magpie22]

9 hours ago, Roger Holden said:

One of my pet hates on models is seeing models of 1930s British aircraft with 'wood' coloured props.....

Ditto!

[TheKinksFan]

10 hours ago, Roger Holden said:

Typical pre-war was varnished wood central boss area, but blades were fabric covered and painted grey.

Thank you for the information, Roger. This photo of a DH60 GIII is a good example of that. https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/de-havilland-dh60giii---moth-major

Why the boss was not covered in fabric, is it not technically possible? And what material is the darker strip on the leading edges of the propeller, is it metal? I remember that in the painting instructions of Airfix's silver wings & Belgian Gladiators this strip was green. Do you know if it was painted in some colour?

 

I studied many Amy Johnson photographs on Getty Images. On many of them she's standing next to the propeller, and the streaks on the blades are visible, so it seems that propellers that were not covered in fabric were also quite common.

[wellsprop]

20 hours ago, Roger Holden said:

Typical pre-war was varnished wood central boss area, but blades were fabric covered and painted grey.

 

 

This is news to me! I assumed all 30s props looked as above (a modern restored example).

[Robin-42]

Never trust a restored aircraft. The Tiger Moth I used to fly started with an original WWII prop painted black with yellow tips, but finished up with a modern varnished wood prop with white and blue tips. Not as nice to look at or hand prop, but much better performing.  

 

The leading edge is usually brass.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Robin-42

[TheKinksFan]

I just realized I should have started this topic in the the civil aircraft section, this seems to be primarily for  interwar military planes. 

[Roger Holden]

11 hours ago, TheKinksFan said:

Thank you for the information, Roger. This photo of a DH60 GIII is a good example of that. https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/de-havilland-dh60giii---moth-major

Why the boss was not covered in fabric, is it not technically possible? And what material is the darker strip on the leading edges of the propeller, is it metal? I remember that in the painting instructions of Airfix's silver wings & Belgian Gladiators this strip was green. Do you know if it was painted in some colour?

The Moth Major shows the typical '30s finish exactly. Later the whole prop was covered in fabric, as with the black/yellow WW2 examples . Leading edges had a strip of brass sheathing to protect against 'nicks' from stones, which could affect prop balance. Sometimes this was painted like the fabric, so doesn't stand out, or left as a dull brass colour. Wasn't usual to paint it a different colour.

[Roger Holden]

2 hours ago, wellsprop said:

 

 

This is news to me! I assumed all 30s props looked as above (a modern restored example).

I have collected close-up photos of around a dozen restored 'civilian' Tiger Moths and not one has the prop in a period-correct finish. Same goes for the colour schemes used by most operators of vintage civil aircraft.

 

A lot of 30s props did look like the one in your photo......just not British ones.