Just to flesh it out a bit more.

R.13/4F5/6 Prop, RA.10108 Dural blades

R.13/4F5/6 Prop, RA.10107JT Jablo blades

R.14/5F5/2 Prop, RA.10129 (JT,RTS or JCS) Jablo blades

“Did Rotol change the colour of their ID disks after the war?” Not after but during the war. Sometime about 1942-43 Jablo blades standardised on the pink/red disks. Prior to that Jadlo blades with a Rotoloid covering used a white disk. Just to confuse matters the white disks were later used to signify Dural blades.

The colour of the disks on Jablo blades range from a dull matt pink to a the more common dull matt red depending on which subcontractor made them. The colour illustrated in the photo of the IWM Spit 24 is possibly a bit too intense although I should take some of the blame for that as I spent a very pleasant day Duxford advising them on the blade markings.

Anne

Hi Anne. Glad to have you weigh in on this. I was in fact aware of the late-war change thanks to the information you and others shared in earlier threads including the one I started about the Spitfire Mk. IX props. I’m definitely going with red for both the XII and 24 kits I’m currently building. It’s really a shame that decal producers (both kit and aftermarket) persist in providing mainly yellow disks for Spitfire blades. The only exception I know of in 1/48 scale is the Techmod stencil sheets, which provide several colors, including the light blue I used on the Mk. IX.

Cheers.

Thanks, Paul. That pretty much confirms what had I thought. Now the only question is, did Rotol change the color of their ID disks after the war? If not, it would seem that the Mk. 24 had red/pink disks, as did the Mk. XII.

Cheers,
Pip

No, there were alloy bladed (four bladed) versions.

If my information is correct, some IXs with Merlin 61 engines had alloy bladed props, while others had wooden blades. IXs with Merlin 63 engines and beyond all had wooden blades. According to http://www.spitfires.ukf.net, EN349 (first flight 2/3/1943) was the first IX with a Merlin 63, while EN498 (FF 4/15/43) was the last one with a Merlin 61. As one can see, there was a period of two months or so when IXs were being produced with both engines. The change-over to wooden bladed props must have happened during that time, at the latest, if not earlier.

R5/4F5/4 props were also used with the Merlin 61 but in this case I would say you are correct in thinking that the aircraft in question is fitted with Dural blades which brings me onto the question of colour. The only actual answer I have is…I don’t know.

I doubt it’s yellow as that is well established as the colour for Waybridge blades at the time of the picture.

White? Well at some point in 1944 it is adopted for Dural blades, could it have been used before that date?

One possibility which I have no real evidence for is light blue. This is listed in 1944 as being in use to identify hollow steel Curtiss blades (remembering that Rotol electric props were licence built Curtiss designs). Could it be that it was originally used to identify any metal Rotol blade?

Anne

Ooh, blue! That could be neat! I agree that yellow is unlikely since it seems to have been used consistently for spruce/fir construction, and white in 1942 was being used for Jablo wood. If blue, looks like a very pale shade. Bottom line, whatever I choose, it’ll be hard to prove me wrong. Thanks again for the help.

Pip

The shot of the MK VII in the Britmodeller post is of EN474 in the US.

I photographed this machine prior to restoration in 1972 and subsequent installation in the Smithsonian.

It has a dull red disc and is not a dural (aluminium alloy) blade.

Mark

The photo I’m talking about shows BS451, a Mk. IX of 611 Sqn.:

The disks are clearly a similar color to the spinner and/or the prop tips.

I honestly cannot recall, but will ask my colleague who has it in his workshop.

I think the discs are still there, and seem to think they were yellow. The aircraft in question was lost in 1943.

An odd feature of this blade is that the tips were red and yellow instead of just the four inch yellow tip – but I suspect just a ‘one off’.

That’d be great, Andy, thanks! I can hold off on the prop for a week or so, and I’ll go with yellow in the absence of any further information.

Pip

I do have a Dural (Rotol) blade from a Spitfire IX with extant markings.

It isn’t here, but I can organise pics if it helps.

I would so much appreciate knowing what color the small disks were just outside the spinner. I’m working on a 1/48 early Spit IX and would like to get it right.

Thanks!
Pip