Zenrat's Flying Circus

[NARSES2]

but at this stage all the Soviet kits looked much more inviting.  When do we start the Cold War?

Well we are about 1/2 way through the BoB GB, so about 6 weeks or so.

Just checked. BoB finishes 13th Dec so we should kick Cold War off week or so latter. That goes through to end Feb so we can get the 2016 1 Week GB up and running.

As an aside the poll for 2016 will go up some time in Dec - probably 

[zenrat]

Fanks dood.

For some reason I thought BoB ended Dec 1.  Of course I can build what I want at any time but I did get a Frogspawn Dewoitine D520 out of the cupboard today to look at the camo pattern for the Pamplemousse so I could Whiff it rather than put it back.
Hmmmm, i'm thinking RAF, long wings, PRU blue...

[PR19_Kit]

Hmmmm, i'm thinking RAF, long wings, PRU blue...

And why not? 

[zenrat]

When was PRU blue first used?  Does it fit with the BoB period?

[Gondor]

When was PRU blue first used?  Does it fit with the BoB period?

Paint it PRU blue then make the story fit if the colour was not used at the time as you could say that it was in "an experimental colour scheme designed to reduce the possibility of interception by enemy aircraft while flying at high altitude"

Gondor

EDIT: Just found some information here that is about the RAF's PRU during the war. On page 16 is the first mention of PRU Blue in 1942.

[PR19_Kit]

When was PRU blue first used?  Does it fit with the BoB period?

Later on in reality.

The PRU was still using Camotint (close to Sky), the ultra-pale pink shades and various greys as well as the usual day fighter schemes  in late 1940 or so, and for quite a while afterward. IIRC the deep blue we call PRU Blue was developed over a number of months during 1940-1941 and there were many different shades used.

But as Gondor suggests, change the backstory to suit your paint stocks. 

[NARSES2]

The PDU (Photographic Development Unit) used loads of interesting colour schemes in the early days. Those that Kit mentions and others including some very interesting Hudson's. There is very little information on some of these and therefore it's down to photo interpretation of the few b/w shots, so accurate colours is anybody's guess.


You could always say it was out of a pot from a paint manufacturer as indeed Camotint was

[PR19_Kit]

Cotton bought the various paints he experimented with direct from the manufacturers rather than through 'official sources' as he was a maverick par excellence. 

You could probably mix any colour you liked and it would be 'correct'. 

[The Big Gimper]

A good book for obscure Recce aircraft and colours is Eyes for the Phoenix: Allied Aerial Photo-Reconnaissance Operations, South-East Asia 1941-1945.

[zenrat]

Thanks folks.
I did some parts lining up and have found some nice long German wings that should fit plus a German engine.
So obviously it will be an RAF plane.

I have temporarily stilled my PRU blue urgings by starting to use some to paint a 1/25 '40 Ford gasser i'm building.  I'm intrigued by the thought of a pink plane though.  I'm guessing it would be similar to that which Ed Pink used to paint his dragsters - i.e. so pale that it looks white in B&W photos?
Something like this which is a lot of white with one tiny drop of red and which looks like white until you see it next to an actual pure white.

[NARSES2]

Those that Kit mentions and others including some very interesting Hudson's.

Indeed a Comet is being produced in one of the Hudson schemes in the BoB build 

[PR19_Kit]

I have temporarily stilled my PRU blue urgings by starting to use some to paint a 1/25 '40 Ford gasser i'm building.  I'm intrigued by the thought of a pink plane though.  I'm guessing it would be similar to that which Ed Pink used to paint his dragsters - i.e. so pale that it looks white in B&W photos?

Yes, the PRU pink of that period was very pale indeed, and was designed to fade into the underside of the clouds during dawn and dusk recce taskings.

The dawn ops were flown westbound and the dusk ops eastbound so the aircraft was always approaching out of the sun, if any. That meant the early PRU, or 541 Sqdn. as the PRU later became, Spitfires had starboard facing oblique cameras for the dusk ops, something that's not often modelled though. The PRU and 541 used LY codes during this period so ,amy B&W pics of the time can be easily identified. More on this at http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6879, a site for a flight sim game but very well produced.



Later in the war, post D Day, there were some FRXIIs operating in Belgium that were painted a slightly brighter pink, but I have yet to discover quite why they did that.



The whole situation of pink PR Spitfires isn't helped by loads of pics of PL965, the only flying PRXI remaining, having flown in a VERY bright pink scheme during the late 90s for a period, including its tour of the USA. Nowadays '965 has reverted to its correct PRU Blue, thank goodness.



Sorry to go on at length but with my background it would be a hobby horse of mine, wouldn't it? 

[NARSES2]

Kit have you any idea why the wing roundels on the 1G were so far inboard ? Other PRU aircraft had something similar I think and I find it quite unattractive for some reason

[PR19_Kit]

Many of the early PRU and 541 Sqdn. PR Spitfires had the roundels well inboard like that, and the reasoning was to throw the aim of the flak and fighters off as it gave a false idea of the aircraft's span and thus the range to their target.

Dad reckoned they looked ugly like that too, and apparently quite a few of the PR Spitfires operating out of St. Eval, where he was, carried no wing roundels at all.

[NARSES2]

Cheers Kit. I can understand the range estimation thing. It's a bit like the way the Poles tried something similar with their wing markings.