Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX Underside colour

[Will_Derby]

Hi everyone,

Im just wondering what colour i should paint the Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX Underside. The colours that Airfix have provide with the "Double Dogfight" kit are:

64
145
33
65
27
106
56
30
(Some of these are for the messerschmittBf110)

While the manual states that i need-

90 (Sky i think)
64
106
30

but i have no idea which of these would sute the underside. at the moment ive painted it 90 but im not too sure this is right for this section of the plane and the box artwork doesnt nessesserly help! a some show it as a shade of Grey while others 90.

any suggestions are welcome : )

Thanks

Will

 

[stona]

Not Sky on a Spitfire IX. The colour had been abandoned on fighters nearly a year before the IX went into service.Most likely,if in a standard scheme, dark green/ocean grey over medium sea grey lower surfaces. Someone will know Humbrol equivalents.
Steve

 

[Will_Derby]

ok, thanks for the help : )

Will

 

[Wurger]

Not Sky on a Spitfire IX. The colour had been abandoned on fighters nearly a year before the IX went into service.Most likely,if in a standard scheme, dark green/ocean grey over medium sea grey lower surfaces. Someone will know Humbrol equivalents.
Steve

It is true to a certain extend , I'm afraid. The Sky colour was still using for the spinner painting and the Quick ID band on rear part of fuselages.Also the code letters were of the colour.

Here a couple of examples.

 

[stona]

Quite true, it was still a marking colour but not a camouflage colour as would be applied to an underside.
Steve

 

[36feet10inches]

64 mate.

 

[36feet10inches]

By the way for the dark green on the upper surfaces is supposed to be Humbrol 30. I find this shade a bit too "blue" and Revell 39 is (IMHO) a better look and closer to the actual colour used.

106 is the medium sea grey for the upper surfaces.

 

[Wurger]

106 is the medium sea grey for the upper surfaces.

Please don't mess him.The 106 is the Ocean Grey which was quite dark grey comparing to the Medium Sea Grey.
Sometimes the MSG is named Light Grey as we speak.

 

[stona]

Will I don't use Humbrol colours so I can't vouch for their accuracy but their paint chart has:
30 Dark Green
106 Ocean Grey
165 Medium Sea Grey
I have no idea how tbhese compare to Light Grey which is indeed 64. I have read elsewhere that 30 is not a very good Dark Green. You wouldn't think it would be so tricky to match what was a very common scheme applied to thousands of aircraft would you!
Cheers
Steve

 

[Wurger]

A short note here only . The Humbrol 165 can be used as the MSG but it is satin colour but not a matt one.

 

[al49]

Hi,
a little contribution.
On the recently released Tamiya kit, that I just started building, they suggest to use their AS-32 color which is called "medium sea gray 2" that should correspond to FS 16270 or FS 36270 which, in turn, should correspond to Humbrol 126.
In other words they suggest this colour:

for an aeroplane based at RAF Kenley in July 1943
Instead, for an other plane, belonging to the Polish No. 145 Squadron based in Tunisia, they suggest this combination:
1 part XF-8 Flat Blue
3 parts XF-2 Flat White

The issue on Tamiya AS-32 is that it's supplied in spray cans and quite difficult to find in the market.
Best regards
Alberto

 

[Wurger]

The Humbrol 126 is a satin one as well.But it is named US Medium Grey on the Humbrol list.

According to Urban's Colour Reference Chart on IP Stokholm site the MSG colour is FS36270 or what is a little bit odd FS36440.Samples of these colours below.
In the post above Al49 is mentioning the FS16270 what is of the same series what the FS36270. It seems that both of these samples look the same.

Urban's Colour Reference Chart suggests a mixture for the MSG paint (FS36270) as showed below :

30*Hu:140 + 16*Hu:34 + 3*Hu:27 + 1*Hu:109.

Personally I have been using the Humbrol 64 for many years and it always looks good on models.

 

[Wurger]

And here samples from Humbrol paint catalogue. As it can be seen the H64 is lighter than both H165 and H126. Taking that paints have to be made of lighter tonality for painting ( how much white is needed to add , it depends on scale) into consideration the H64 is the best for 1/72 and 1/48 scale.Besides it is the matt paint but not satin one.

 

[Airframes]

Nice info there Wojtek, and spot on for the majority of any work, especially allowing for fading, weathering and different factory finsihes.
As far as the dark green goes, I've used Humbrol No.30 for almost 50 years, and it's been as close as you'd get - until now! Since the change of manufacturer since Humbrol's demise, I've noticed that N0.30 can vary dramatically. The last tin I bought, used on my Boston, is rather too bright, even after multiple clear coats of gloss and matt.
BTW, the RAF colours have only just been introduced by Tamiya, to coincide with the release of their 1/32nd scale Spitfire. I guess they'll probably soon be available in those riduculously small, over-priced bottles we see in the UK !!

 

[A4K]

With Terry, great info Wojtek!

I would agree with Tony and Wojtek, Humbrol 64 seems to be the best match for Mk.IX undersides.

 

[stona]

Most illuminating gentlemen.It makes me glad I moved to acrylic paints and (mostly) away from enamels. I have seen Terry's reservations about the newer Humbrol paints echoed quite a lot recently,which is a shame.And,yes, I'm sure those over priced bottles are on their way!
Steve

 

[Wurger]

That's true.It's a shame that Humbrol changed the "recipe" of these oil enamels.It has been noticed for a few recent years.Especially it could be seen with the Humbrol RAF Dark Green no.30. The paint of every new released series had different tonality.

But back to the MSG colour. I have made a test.All colour samples from posts above I have changed into Black and White ones. Then found a nice B&W hi-res picture of Polish Spitfire Mk.IX.I added thase samples to the shot. Here you are. The Medium Sea Grey can be seen on the bottom of the engine cowling.There was some sunlight when the picture was taking and paints on the aircraft are nice seen.What is more the Spit camo looks quite newly.As a result we can compare alll samples with the MSG tonality in the snap.

What do you think?

 

[stona]

That's an interesting idea! If it was me I'd use 64 for the medium sea grey (underside) and 165 for the ocean grey (upper).
When I finally get around to my Spitfire I'll be using Xtracrylix!
Steve

 

[Wurger]

I think the H.165 is too light to be the Ocean Gray. I think the H.106 is still the best one.
Also notice that both H165 and H.126 are closer with their tonality to the colour of the port side landing gear door.However it is in the dark and seems to be of different tonality than the H.64. But you are right.The H.64 is the paint for the undersides.

 

[Will_Derby]

Thanks for the help guys! and i think we've started a paint dibate.

I have now painted the underside with the paints suggested by wurger and i have now started to apaint the main camoflarge.

Thanks again

Will