As Eddie said but its all about the construction date of the aircraft. When it left the Westland factory it would have been painted Dark Earth/Dark Green (upper surfaces) and Sky (lower surfaces). Literaly a few weeks after arriving at her first service unit the Air Ministry issued orders for Dark Earth to be over-painted in a new colour, Ocean Grey and for the lower surfaces to be painted Medium Sea Grey. Both schemes are therfore correct for ‘213 depending on the period one wishes to portray. As Tom W told us, the owner has selected the original delivery scheme which was largely unchanged from the typical 1940 Battle of Britain era schemes of the previous year. I suspect this selection was made as the colours emphasise the unique position of ‘213 as an airworthy Mk 1 Spitfire while at the same time being correct for the airframe itself.

Hi all, Thanks for the info on AR213 paint & also on abbrieviation IIRC, now I understand.

Steve