Boeing P26 / 281

[stevehed]

http://usuarios.multimania.es/mrval/GC44901.HTM

Hi,

Can anyone who is familiar with the vagaries of black and white photographs identify the colour of the aircraft in the pictures. To the best of my knowledge those 281's exported to China were grey if this helps. Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Steve

[Ley]

I've looked into this a bit and there seems to be two schools of thought:

- blue fuselage/yellow wings

- green fuselage/yellow wings

As far as I can find out, there is some debate about photos allegedly taken at Madrid and no authenticated shots of the 281 in Spain have surfaced.

[Patrik]

I've looked into this a bit and there seems to be two schools of thought:

- blue fuselage/yellow wings

- green fuselage/yellow wings

As far as I can find out, there is some debate about photos allegedly taken at Madrid and no authenticated shots of the 281 in Spain have surfaced.

My resource - HPM 11/99 - shows the Spanish 281 in full republican colours over natural metal - however noting that it's just a "reconstruction of the colour scheme" because there are no known photos of the airplane in the republican service.

[Srecko]

Sample machine on image look like to have green fuselage. There was also machines with natural metal surfaces:

[p-26luvr]

Steve as you say, the Chinese planes were supposedly grey. I have never seen any pictures of Spanish ones.

For the USAAC planes, they were first in Olive Drab & Yellow, & then in Light Blue #23 & Yellow. FYI, I use Extracolor enamel #124 Blue FS15109 when I paint the blue fuselaged planes, & a mixture of X111 Olive Drab & X113 Faded OD mixed to my liking for the OD fuselaged ones. I am in fact painting a Revell 1/72nd scale model at present in these colors. I will be putting on the second coat of paint later today. I have put in one of the Starfighter Decals resin cockpits, & will be using their decals for a 95th squadron plane. Carl T

[stevehed]

Thank you Gentlemen for your replies. Expecting some info over the next few days so may have a more definite idea then. If not then it looks like a bit of what if. Leaning towards grey as I would have thought some form of protective coating would be deemed necessary, or even tested, on a demonstrator ??

Cheers, Steve

[stevehed]

Thank you Gentlemen for your replies. Expecting some info over the next few days so may have a more definite idea then. If not then it looks like a bit of what if. Leaning towards grey as I would have thought some form of protective coating would be deemed necessary, or even tested, on a demonstrator ??

Cheers, Steve

Received a copy of an article by Rafael A. Permuy Lopez this afternoon. It is a very interesting read and one photo is accompanied in part with ..el avion llego a Espana totalmente pintado en color olive drab, reglamentario en el U.S. Army Air Corps.( The aircraft arrived in Spain painted totally in olive drab, obligatory in the USAAC.)

I had rather hoped for grey or natural metal combined with underwing gun pods but even the latter does not seem to have been the case. The Spanish 281 looks to have been a pretty dull bird with the exception, of course, of the red bands. A question springs to mind as in the R 5 thread the Republican green was agreed as Humbrol 117. What Humbrol colour is recommended as US olive drab ?

Cheers,

Steve

[p-26luvr]

Steve, the picture you have up above is of a prototype of the P-26. You can tell this by the back of the wheel covers. The production planes did not have the pointed part that is at the bottom back. Also while it is not too clearly shown the headrest is much lower than a production one. Carl T

[stevehed]

Steve, the picture you have up above is of a prototype of the P-26. You can tell this by the back of the wheel covers. The production planes did not have the pointed part that is at the bottom back. Also while it is not too clearly shown the headrest is much lower than a production one. Carl T

Thanks for that Carl. Fancy a SCW 281 at some time and it looks like the Revell kit will be OK. Was hoping for something a little different but it is not to be. The article I mentioned previously has drawings and colour profiles that have the higher headrest and more rounded rear legs.

Cheers, Steve

[p-26luvr]

Steve, The Aviation Workshop book Wings of Stars has 7 pages of profiles devoted to the P-26. All are of USAAC aircraft, but show a wide range of markings possible for a model. Starfighter Decals covers most of them in 1/72nd scale.

For an aircraft of which only 136 were made there was a very large variety of markings to choose from that were extremely colorful. I have 21 models of the P-26 in various stages of build & finish right now, & have lost count of how many I have built over the years before now.

If you type in Boeing P-26 on the internet you will find a lot of information as well. Carl T

[Juan_M]

Incidentally, we have been talking about this issue recently in this forum

http://www.network54.com/Forum/394728/thre...+colores+boeing.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/394728/thre...P+26+Peashooter

Steve, the aircraft in this picture

is the first demonstrator, NX12271, at Boeing Field. This picture is heavily retouched, deleting the serial under the wing. You may see the original in the Aerofax Minigraph 8 - Boeing P-26 Variants, by Peter Bowers. It was Olive Drab with yellow wings and tail surfaces.

This is the Spanish plane, second demonstrator NX12275.

(from Aero Series 22)

This picture was taken at Boeing Field too. There are two more showing 3/4 views from both sides, taken on the same session, published in the above mentioned Aerofax and the Squadron Mini In Action devoted to this aircraft.

These sources says that the scheme is gloss black with yellow wings and tail surfaces, with white-trimmed red flashes.

This one is the only positivelly dated and located in Spain

It was published, for the very first time, in the May 1935 issue of Revista de Aeronáutica (Aviation Magazine). The picture shows signs of retouching and we don't know how much was.

There is another picture, still not dated and allegedly located somewhere in Spain, from the archives of Juan Arráez that adds confusion to the matter

We are unsure if the red flash was really deleted or it's bound by the poor quality of the picture.

About the armament, contrary to the common belief, there are official reports showing that the armament was complete but the syncro mechanism damaged. As it was slighty different to the one used in Spain, it was changed and rearmed with Vickers MGs in the original placement.

About the Permuy's article, it's wrong in one detail: Olive Drab and Yellow was not obligatory in the USAAC at that date. A Technical Order was issued in May 1934 replacing Olive Drab by Light Blue but with no immediate effect, allowing manufacturers to consume their stocks of OD paint.

p-26luvr

You may see a grey chinese 281 in the Aerofax, page 16.

Cheers,

Juan (from Madrid)