Zodiacchris
August 10, 2013 at 11:10 am

Early Spitfire Camouflage

Gentlemen,
Looking at photographs of early pre-war Spitfires, including the camouflaged K5054 and the first production aircraft, I noticed that in general the borders between the green and brown appear to be sharp and defined, and not blend into each other like the later ones. Does that imply that these aircraft were not spray painted? Were they hand painted or did Supermarine simply mask off the borders before painting? Any help would be appreciated as I intend to paint my replica as K5054, cerulean blue or camouflage…

Thanks,
Chris

Member for:

19 years 1 month

Posts:

1,308

Send private message

By: Edgar Brooks - 10th August 2013 at 13:05

Initially, the Air Ministry favoured blending, but found that, at times, the blending was carried out by simply pulling the spraygun away from the surface, which led to almost-dry paint hitting the surface, giving a rough surface, and inducing drag. In early pre-Dunkirk 1940, following a meeting, at which a professor said that blending was a waste of time, a general order, on external finish, was issued, in which it was said that mats could now be used; oddly, there’s a 1937 Spitfire camouflage pattern drawing, in the National Archives, which carries exactly the same reference to the mats as appears on the later Mk.21 drawing, supplied by Tony (above,) which gives a hint that Supermarine never used blending, for some unknown reason.
When the war was in progress, Spitfires were being repaired at M.U.s, and factories of the Civilian Repair Organisation, who might not have had access to the mats, so would probably have had to revert to blending; one man I spoke to said that he “free-handed” an Oxford, but the foreman made sure that his overspray did not exceed half an inch.
In August 1942, Supermarine (and others) went from cellulose to a synthetic finish, which was smooth and matt (something paint manufacturers had found difficult, even impossible, to achieve in cellulose,) so maybe blending was less of a problem, but I’ve found no evidence of that, so far. Around that time, a new trade, of Aircraft Finisher, was created, which would/should have ensured better surfaces.
Post-war, blending returned, but, with a gloss varnish on top, maybe drag was less of a problem.

Member for:

19 years 1 month

Posts:

23

Send private message

By: Zodiacchris - 10th August 2013 at 12:49

[QUOTE=TonyT;2053904]They used rubber mats that were precut to the scheme, they were then laid over the aircaft and sprayed over, Edgar Brooks on here is the man to speak too

Thanks Tony!

Great link and great information, that helps a lot!

Cheers,
Chris

Member for:

19 years 1 month

Posts:

9,042

Send private message

By: TonyT - 10th August 2013 at 12:00

They used rubber mats that were precut to the scheme, they were then laid over the aircaft and sprayed over, Edgar Brooks on here is the man to speak too