mhaselden Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) Found these colour pics taken at Singapore in April 1941 while searching the Life photo archive. Still looking for one of a Buffalo but these are AMAZING!!! Blenheim MkIf 27 Sqn L6669 PT-N Colour Blenheim MkIf L6635 PT-A Colour PT-A Again Note the blue undersides. I'd really appreciate Nick "Straggler" Millman's thoughts on these. Am I the only one who thinks these are incredible??? Cheers, Mark Edited January 14, 2011 by mhaselden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Am I the only one who thinks these are incredible???Cheers, Mark Nope: utterly awesome. Brilliant find. Next I'd like some of the 4 AACU Sharks please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 Here's another showing an interesting yellow leading edge to the tailplane. Never seen that before! 27 Sqn L66?? Yellow Tailplane Leading Edge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Cox Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Thank-you Mark, For posting those images they are terrific. Cheers, Daniel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Yup - brilliant find! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Jones Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Found these colour pics taken at Singapore in April 1941 while searching the Life photo archive. Still looking for one of a Buffalo but these are AMAZING!!!Blenheim MkIf 27 Sqn L6669 PT-N Colour Blenheim MkIf L6635 PT-A Colour PT-A Again Note the blue undersides. I'd really appreciate Nick "Straggler" Millman's thoughts on these. Am I the only one who thinks these are incredible??? Cheers, Mark Undersides, codes and fighter band are obviously all Sky type S , but which variation of Sky is entirely up to you. Great find though, thanks for posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 Undersides, codes and fighter band are obviously all Sky type S , but which variation of Sky is entirely up to you. Great find though, thanks for posting And there was me thinking Sky Blue or even Light Azure Blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) WOW!!! Looks like Medium Sea Grey for both the undersides and the stripes to me - but the codes would be MSG, and the underside is just a fraction lighter.... Has a hint ofblue, otherwise I'd say Sky Grey... Edited January 14, 2011 by Dave Fleming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Here's another showing an interesting yellow leading edge to the tailplane. Never seen that before!27 Sqn L66?? Yellow Tailplane Leading Edge Tailplane and fin as well - I wonder if they suffered erosion problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test Graham Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) Looks like Sky Blue to me, too. Wonderful find. Edited January 14, 2011 by Graham Boak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 They are great pictures, thanks for posting. Life's archives are a goldmine ! The codes look to me different from the band, and they look medium sea grey... of course to my eyes as seen on my monitor. The band and the undersurfaces look lighter than the codes. The band falls within what I'd expect to be the variations of Sky, the undersurfaces though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Crikey, Mark, the colour blindness here is worse than I thought! So far you have nearly a full set of RAF under surface colours - Sky Type S, Azure Blue, Medium Sea Grey, Sky Blue and even Sky Grey (that one I love - some people are just so desperate)! We still need Lt Med Blue and, oh yes, don't forget black, white and aluminium! Talk about narrowing the field. Without adding to the rainbow two things I noticed:- 1. The fin flashes are in "bright" colours quite different to the "dull" roundels (which would look odd on a model even if you could get the decals!); and 2. The nearest aircraft in the second photo appears to have the undersurface paint (distemper?) on the cowling ring and exhaust. Then in another photo it appears to have been wiped off. Very interesting, if they are genuine and not colourised! They remind me of Bingham-Wallis' description of the Buffalos, with the fuselage band "a shade lighter". Regards Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) Very interesting, if they are genuine and not colourised! They remind me of Bingham-Wallis' description of the Buffalos, with the fuselage band "a shade lighter". Hi Nick I am absolutely convinced these are genuine and not colourized. They are part of a whole series of colour photos taken by Carl Mydans including lots of "human interest" pics (eg Indian soldier winding his turban). I agree we have the entire spectrum of interpretation on the underside colour which no doubt is based on monitor reproduction of the image. I think it's pretty clear the codes are MSG. I hadn't picked up on the brighter colours of the fin flash - good spot. Note that later the Sqn seemed to revert to smaller, rectangular fin flashes so this may have been a temporary expedient. What it does provide is strong evidence that a sky blue shade was applied at Singapore and hence this shade was available for the fuselage bands on Buffalos. This was an amazing series of pics to find. Needless to say, the LIFE search capability hasn't improved and I uncovered these with a fairly broad search and then doing some digging around when I found one or two colour pics of non-aviation subjects. Now if only I could find that Buffalo!!! Edited January 14, 2011 by mhaselden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Aereo Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Brilliant photos, thank you for sharing. Could the yellow leading edge be de-icing paste..? Oh, and please note the red in the roundels, which does appear to be "dull" red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Sky Grey (that one I love - some people are just so desperate)! That was a joke!! I still think it looks like MSG, possibly in a different material to the codes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 I guess we don't get the depth of your humour. Smilies help even if they are a bit naff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) I guess we don't get the depth of your humour. Smilies help even if they are a bit naff Someone has to suggest Sky Grey as a solution to any RAF grey colour question.... The serial on the rudder is interesting as well. Here's a B+W pic of them http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?img...s%3Disch:10,456 This was an amazing series of pics to find. Needless to say, the LIFE search capability hasn't improved and I uncovered these with a fairly broad search and then doing some digging around when I found one or two colour pics of non-aviation subjects. Now if only I could find that Buffalo!!! Take it you found the B+W Buffalo shots? Edited January 14, 2011 by Dave Fleming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) Take it you found the B+W Buffalo shots? Yep. Every now and then a new one pops up (and for some unknown reason, some disappear!). This is part of the frustration with the LIFE archive. There's amazing stuff in there that was never published but it's almost impossible to find. I've taken to "right-click-save" every time I see something I like because I never know whether I'll be able to find it again. There was an old thread where I posted some of the B&W Blenheim pics from Singapore: Old 27 Sqn Thread Cheers, Mark Edited January 14, 2011 by mhaselden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Eisenman Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) The coloring does look like it was done with pastels. But when opened up they do have some lovely colors. The blue on the collector ring could be sloppy painting, also note the slightly wavy demarcation between the underside blue (not saying what shade because others clearly know more) and the top camouflage. Also note the blue paint on the tire of PT*N. The fin flash and roundels look very fresh, but the difference between the reds and blues is quite amazing. As if the painter had two different sets of instructions. Also I note on the picture of the single aircraft, the fin seems to be three different colors, with a light brown at the top, dark brown below and perhaps green below that. This can be seen in the picture of the aviator. That leading edge is a tail plane. Odd why it would be yellow, then again, Beaufighters had yellow underside for quick ID in North Africa. But yellow on top? Edited January 14, 2011 by Steven Eisenman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 And is that overspray on the tyre ? Cheers Den Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) Good catch on that lighter-toned section at the top of the fin, Modeldad. Looks like a repair overpainted with a different brand of Dark Earth. The roundels would be applied at the factory but those fin flashes are later additions, which probably accounts for the different shades of blue and red. I think it is overspray on the tyre. There also seems to be some overspray on the Townend ring of the nearest aircraft (PT-D or PT-B.). Edited January 14, 2011 by mhaselden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) My first thought was not so much the undersides colour, which I took to be azure blue but could as easily be sky blue given monitor differences etc, but, did the blue extend all the way to the other side or do we still have black port undersides? Very hard to tell either way from those picks. The black & white pic that Dave Fleming put up shows a pale undercart door but dark engines & an obvious pale/dark demarcation running along the fuselage centre line. Brilliant set of photos Mark, great find, thanks. Steve. Edited January 14, 2011 by stevehnz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 This gave me a great idea (well I think !!) for a thread, colour pictures of WWII aircraft as a reference and inspiration guide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 Stevehz, Based on the available B&W photos, the aircraft with blue starboard undersides would have black port undersides. There were some aircraft that the entire underside was black. The link to the old thread in my last post but one shows these features quite clearly. KR Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Is it me - or does the aircraft code letter look like its painted the same as the undersurface colour - while the PT sqn code looks to be in MSG ( or whatever or at least a duller colour). Theres a definite differencee between the PT and the A and the N in these pics. As to the colour - in some pics it looks like is MSG, in others its looks bluer. Note the browning .303 gunpacks BTW Jonners PS top find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now