Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
Some comments:
1. Your statement about gate guards not being painted until the 1980s is patently untrue. Many gate guards weren't even wearing wartime camouflage but postwar high-speed silver or some other postwar affectation of wartime camo. Here are just a couple of examples:
View attachment 484142
RAF Wilmslow had a retired Supermarine Spitfire as a 'Gate Guardian'. It was a Spitfire Mk Vb; serial 5377M aka EP120. RAF Wilmslow closed in 1962...so no 1980s repaint in this case.
View attachment 484143
RAF Northolt gate guardian - photo taken in 1970. You're telling me this hasn't been repainted since WW2???
2. A diagram is NOT a template nor is it a specification. It is a general plan. In order for a plan to be a template, it should be constructed at full scale and distributed so it can be used as a mask. In order for a plan to be a specification, it should include details of approved tolerances in areas where such things were important. For example, a plan might show a 1/4in diameter bolt that's 1in long. The SPECIFICATION should articulate the allowable tolerances. If the spec calls for length tolerances of +/- 1/8in, then we could place 2 bolts side-by-side and find that the first is 1-1/8in and the other is 15/16in but BOTH of them meet the SPECIFICATION. Now apply that to RAF camouflage. What is the SPECIFICATION for how closely the applied scheme should match the plan? Short answer....THERE ISN'T ONE. About the only spec cited was the degree of feathering between the camouflage colours (no more than 1in). There's NO wording ANYWHERE that I've seen which states that the applied scheme must be within so-and-so inches of the diagram. You keep stating that the photos "prove" that the aircraft were painted "out of spec" but you CANNOT make that assertion without providing the spec...and all its associated tolerances. For the third time of asking, PLEASE provide the spec and I'll start listening to you.
3. Nobody is saying that the plan was followed slavishly. That said, neither is it a "wide playground". The photos show some slight differences in the positioning of the demarcation lines but it's only really visible when aircraft are seen side-by-side. In terms of impacting the overall camouflage scheme, there's zero appreciable wholesale difference. Where I will agree is that we should always strive to consult photos of the actual aircraft in the timeframe we wish to model in order to correctly capture the look of the aircraft, to include any unique markings (eg noseart) or distinctive weathering patterns.
The above is offered in a final attempt to explain my position. I'm done with the propagation of false information and the attempt to somehow link it to jingoistic perceptions about British Commonwealth personnel in general or their officers in particular. I look forward to any substantive comments you may have.
Spitfires were painted with horsehair mats precut to the scheme and simply draped over the airframe as the camo was applied. similar too
View attachment 512904
I also have the original factory drawing, though they did do several during the war, see link below, IT IS A FACTORY DRAWING, NO DIFFERENT TO A DRAWING FOR A WING RIB AND THE DIMENSIONS APPENDED ON IT ARE THE DIMENSIONS YOU USE, there is no tolerences required for them, as unlike a rib, slight deviation will not effect anything.
View attachment 512903
"What is the SPECIFICATION for how closely the applied scheme should match the plan? Short answer....THERE ISN'T ONE."
ERR there is and I have just provided it.