I visited the Science Museum on Monday and noticed that the Supermarine S6B appeared to have lost a fair bit of paint since my last visit. When I got closer I found a board explaining that the museum is attempting to conserve as much as possible of the original paint and went on to explain that there were two shades of blue paint visible on the aircraft.
The notice stated that the lighter blue that was visible represented the original paint finish worn by the aircraft but the paint was attacked by the special fuels used so the aircraft had been overpainted prior to the Schneider Trophy in the darker of two blue shades visible.
I always understood that the S6B was overpainted in the darker blue to tidy it up for the 1951 Festival of Britain and that it had been a lighter blue when it flew in the Schneider Trophy contest.
Can anyone confirm which version of events is correct please?
By: Arabella-Cox - 1st March 2009 at 23:10
Dave,
I’ve checked a large number of B&W photos of the Supermarine and Gloster racers, plus contemporaneous artwork to try and ascertain the paint colours. The S5 was lighter than the later S6s and it also looks as if they may have used a non standard blue for the insignia, it is distinctly ligher than on the GIV in the same photograph. The S6s were, as you say, just about the same colour as the contemporary insignia blue and I would judge the current paintwork on N248 at Solent Sky to be pretty accurate.
Here is a photo of the float on S1595 showing the original bright blue paint below the darker top coating
Cheers
Ralph
By: DaveF68 - 1st March 2009 at 20:43
Its interesting that you say that as I thought much the same about the colour. However the museum are pretty certain that it has not been repainted since they acquired it in ’31. If it had been quickly touched up prior to delivery to the museum using basic stock paint at an RAF station, possibly Felixstowe, what colours might have been available?
Pre-war roundel (bright) Blue would be the most obvious candidate.
Interestingly, looking at B+W period pictures of S1596, the rear (blue) rudder stripe is the same tone as the fuselage.
http://www.raf.mod.uk/downloads/wallpapers/1920s_1930s/s6b1024.jpg
Compare to this S5, and the leading stripe is close to the tone of the top of the fuselage – and to the roundel
Which is what you would expect,as the order of the rudder stripes changed in September 1930.
Taking on board that the film types commonly used in the 20s and 30s rendered blues as lighter and greyer than they were in reality, maybe the colour IS genuine? Were the S6s painted in the then roundel blue colour?
By: Arabella-Cox - 1st March 2009 at 19:23
Its interesting that you say that as I thought much the same about the colour. However the museum are pretty certain that it has not been repainted since they acquired it in ’31. If it had been quickly touched up prior to delivery to the museum using basic stock paint at an RAF station, possibly Felixstowe, what colours might have been available?
By: DaveF68 - 1st March 2009 at 17:56
The current ‘blue’ appears to be post war RAF Roundel blue
By: WJ244 - 1st March 2009 at 17:46
Seems appearances are deceptive in this case and I have to agree that apart from a good dust the cockpit should be left alone. There are definitely some areas of the floats where rust and corrosion are noticeable so lets hope these get attended to during the current work. I am inclined to think repainting the blue areas may be a good idea simply because it is unlikely that the paint they are trying to conserve is the original finish so I don’t really see how conserving it adds to the history of the aircraft.
By: chumpy - 28th February 2009 at 23:38
I was the lucky guy to get a view of the cockpit, most suprised when they said yes to my request. Though an after hours vist was required, not much light so not the best photgraphic conditions, plus balancing on a large set of step ladders!
Whilst the outside may look a bit shabby, the interior is beautifully original, oozes history. As mentioned by Schneiderman the aircraft is sound, looks to have had a coating of ‘waxoil’ down the rear fuselage some time in the past.
Maybe a bit of gentle dusting in the cockpit, otherwise leave her alone..a ‘full restoration’ certainly not required.
By: Arabella-Cox - 28th February 2009 at 21:02
Another member of this forum had the opportunity to photograph inside the cockpit a year or so back and apart from a healthy layer of dust the structure is in excellent condition. Not really surprising I guess as the number of flights she made can almost be counted on the fingers of one hand and Supermarine knew a thing or two about anticorrosion protection on duralumin.
I have very mixed feelings about the work the museum has carried out and its not at all clear what the objective was. A lot of paint has flaked away during the work and she does indeed look a bit tired now. The fabric on the rudder, replaced a few years back, is loose too.
By: RPSmith - 28th February 2009 at 19:32
whether it be conservation or restoration when it is completed one of the reults will be that you will no longer be able to give the float a gentle pat – touching by any visitor will be verboten. Shame in my opinion. 😡
Roger Smith.
By: WJ244 - 28th February 2009 at 18:32
Sounds like the board beside the S6B may not be entirely accurate but the jury is still out on correct colours although it does seem extremely unlikely that the darker blue was applied direct onto the unprimered metal during her flying career as I would have thought it would have been stripped pretty quickly by the airflow.
I hadn’t realised it was the S6A that was displayed at the Festival of Britain although I was aware that this was displayed for a long time at Southampton Docks painted as S1596.
Thanks for clarifying the situation a little.
I know the Science Museum have a bee in their bonnet about conservation rather then restoration but having looked at the corrosion, and in some places rust on the S6B and bearing in mind that much of the paint is almost certainly not the original finish anyway perhaps a full restoration rather than conservation would be more appropriate in this case. I just don’t see the point in conserving non original paint on an airframe which clearly looks like it needs an in depth restoration to ensure it remains structurally sound for future generations to enjoy.
By: Cees Broere - 28th February 2009 at 18:30
When visiting the Science Museum during New Years recentely I couldn’t help thinking that the S6B looked a bit tired, of course it’s an original aircraft but with various bits and panels missing it looked a bit neglected. hope it will be made more complete soon
Don’t know if the missing bits were a result of the conservation programme though
Cheers
Cees
By: Arabella-Cox - 28th February 2009 at 12:49
Hi,
I contacted the museum shortly after the recent clean up work commenced to discuss this but unfortunately they have few records regarding the history of the paintwork on the aircraft. The top coat, that they refer to as RAF blue, has been applied directly to the bare metal of the fuselage without primer while on the floats it overlays the original blue which is a far lighter shade. This RAF blue was applied prior to the aircraft being donated to the museum and it has not been repainted since then.
The fuel mixture used for the contest and speed records certainly did attack the paintwork and it is very likely that she was quickly repainted before being put on show in the UK and Canada. Why this shade would have been chosen I cannot say, it is not at all like Supermarine’s original colours.
The aircraft displayed at the 1951 Festival of Britain was S6a N248 painted as S1596. This aircraft is now on display at Solent Sky painted in the correct Supermarine Blue colours.
Cheers
Ralph
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February 27, 2009 at 10:13 pm