Canberra TT18 Paint

Charlie Tango

I doubt if these pics will be much help but any excuse to put a Canberra pic up !!!
WJ680 taken at her ‘official’ launch into civvy street at Wyton in the 90’s (cant remember date… anybody know ??).
I also have some pics somewhere when Rob Metcalfe very kindly brought her to our families day at Dunsfold in ’97??,must try to find em !!

Those lights were a proper job fit at when they were converted, my guess is something like a Harley light or landing light. They had proper fairings for them, but I dont think every aircraft had them.

We have the fairings fitted, but the lights are long gone, leaving only the mounting bracket. I had heard that Bedford truck headlights (sealed beam unit) were used as a one-off trial installation. :confused: I’m releaved that you believe them to be something sensible like Harley lights…!

If we are going to spend alot of time and money brining our TT18 back from the brink, we need to get it right first time. Detail is important. Aside from corrosion removal, some of the jobs include:
sealing the rear crew escape hatch
fitting fillet panels between wing and fuse
re-skin the wooden section of the fin
repair the role-specific kit (lights, pods, etc)….
Obviously the airframe repairs will come first…..:rolleyes:

Those lights were a proper job fit at when they were converted, my guess is something like a Harley light or landing light. They had proper fairings for them, but I dont think every aircraft had them.

Thank you all for the paint info – I think that should suit our needs.

While on the subject of TT18’s, does anyone know of a decent pair of pylons lying around? Ours are killing themselves from the inside, and IMHO they need replacing.

Are there any drogue units going spare also?

And finally, does anyone know if the drogue spotlights (fitted to the engine cowl) were a ‘make do’ job using truck headlights? Were all TT18’s fitted with them?

Again, thanks in advance

best bet

the best bet is to contact the RAF or the station it was based at as they will have a record of the aircrafts paint and markings as well as the paint codes. in a revlent ap

the best bet is to go with a polyurethane paint as they are much more harder the cellouse and acrylic paints. if the a/c is kept outside

the black would be a semi matt black and semi matt golden yellow
the green also look likes a semi matt and same with the grey which looks like a medium sea grey. but dont take my word for it as i spend most of my time painting nimrods at kinloss and they are a mixture of grey and cam biege.

dark sea grey is BS381c No 638

Im still sure its dark sea grey that you need specs for, and not medium, and that Miggers is spot on with the yellow.

BAe/BAC did the initial conversions at Warton. Some 7 sqn aircraft had a different cut away bombay profile and had lights, to illuminate the Rushton winches, built into fairings on the engine nacelles. Servicing was at their base, St Mawgan, and indeed long after the 7 Sqn Canberras were retired in the mid eighties, the winches were serviced there (401 hgr) for 100 Sqn by Airworks.
The later 100 Sqn machines didnt look much different than standard Canberras.

Have you tried BAe? back in the 1980’s they had the contract to service Cranberries until 2012!! so the may still have some record- long shot I know.

Majority of the work done on the TT.18s (including conversion I believe) was carried out by Flight Refuelling at Hurn.

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Here we go again! Can anyone dig out the paint specs for a late scheme Canberra TT18?

Were the colours:
Medium sea Grey? (If so, then we have the spec)
Dark Earth Green? (If so, then we have the spec too)
Black (Got the spec for this one…)
Yellow – This is the one we are unsure about. Even a name for the correct shade would be beneficial.

Might have to re-name NEAM as the ‘Flypast Forum Museum’ at this rate……
Thanks in advance, as per usual….:D

Have you tried BAe? back in the 1980’s they had the contract to service Cranberries until 2012!! so the may still have some record- long shot I know.

As for the yellow I was told by a RAF painter/finisher that it is called SAR wing yellow.

I may be wrong (and usually am) but I think the aircraft was disposed of by the RAF straight to NEAM (dismantled and roaded in) not long after the airfield (Sunderland) closed in 1984.

LL
Potted history of your TT.18 here

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Nice one, thank you all! Just need to get rid of the nasty corrosion now……:D

The yellow normally used and indeed listed in current UK Mil colours (BS381c)
is No 356 Golden Yellow.

We use it at work for safety rails,machine guards etc and it’s known throughout the works as “Rescue Helicopter Yellow”:D .

If it’s a 1k finish needed we buy it from Firwood Paints or if it’s a 2k finish needed we get it from Leigh’s Paints.Both firms are in Bolton,lancashire and have websites.

Both finishes give excellent results if sprayed on(by me),but if it’s a brush/roller finish you’re after,then the 1k finish can be applied by hand.

Miggers:cool:

From BS381c

Dark green is No 241 “dark green” (renumbered in the 1988 BS381c from No641)
Medium sea grey is No 637 “medium sea grey”

apparent the RAF’s identity yellow (Aircraft finish No 405) did not make it into the 1964 BS381c – perhaps because of presence of similar shade No 356 Golden Yellow

Information from Paul Lucas books on postwar fighter colours

More info here

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_uk.htm

hope this helps

That is indeed an ex St Mawgan 7 Sqn aircraft, and was there until at least Aug 1980, would be great to see it in its originals colours.
It looks like the camo on it now has been applied in the wrong shades (could be the pic?).
Also dark sea and extra dark sea grey fades, especially, as in the case on the TT.18s, the aircraft were left outside near the sea. I know this has led to all sorts of debates on the finish of FAA aircraft. Ideally you need pics of freshly painted aircraft or the paint specs.
Where was it before you obtained it?

I may be wrong (and usually am) but I think the aircraft was disposed of by the RAF straight to NEAM (dismantled and roaded in) not long after the airfield (Sunderland) closed in 1984. Its current camo colours were re-applied about 4 years ago, so it appears that it has faded rather quickly.The plan is to keep it in the camo scheme rather than the earlier grey and dayglow. The yellow and black undersides are original. The camo paint is flaking off, so perhaps a good key was not achieved – not my place to say really, but it will all be coming off for the re-paint in due coarse. Our Vulcan has the same paint applied on part of the wing and you can see where the roller marks are due to the fading – both aircraft are permanently outside and are looking very tatty now. If we can perform a good re-paint, they should be presentable for a few years at least.

I have heard that the yellow is the same shade as applied to SAR Sea Kings – is this true?

Getting the paint spec numbers is the whole point of this thread, especially for the green, grey and yellow.

dave – good idea, but are the shades used on the mossie 100% accurate for a canberra?

Might be worth contacting Duxford as the colours will be the same as the stripes on TA719 (Mosquito) which was painted not so long ago

That is indeed an ex St Mawgan 7 Sqn aircraft, and was there until at least Aug 1980, would be great to see it in its originals colours.
It looks like the camo on it now has been applied in the wrong shades (could be the pic?).
Also dark sea and extra dark sea grey fades, especially, as in the case on the TT.18s, the aircraft were left outside near the sea. I know this has led to all sorts of debates on the finish of FAA aircraft. Ideally you need pics of freshly painted aircraft or the paint specs.
Where was it before you obtained it?

Canberra TT.18 (B.2) WJ639

this one is ours, looking rather sorry for herself

http://www.demobbed.org.uk/images/wj639.jpg

this is what we want to achieve – same scheme, fresh paint.

http://home.casema.nl/falcons/Vistors/Canberra.jpg

Agree with your dark green, but thought it was dark sea grey with it. Dont forget dark sea grey appears medium (Lightnings, Javs, Hunters etc), and extra dark sea grey (FAA types, Shack) appears dark grey (with smallest hint of blue).
Isnt medium sea grey the unique colour they used on upper surfaces of camo scheme Victors?
Yellow, I assumed this to be the same as that applied to Seakings.
I know someone who was a 7sqn techie, and I know someone else on Seakings, so can ask (will take abit of time) for you?
Is your tug an ex St Mawgan aircraft?