Spitfire Mk Vb

[Perv]

ah that makes sense.  Havent seen one from the bottom so thought the camoflage was all over

"They have the big ol' roundels painted on them because once you've started a dogfight, you want to be damn sure you're not shooting down you're mates - far more important than any camo pattern!"

think we need to paint them on our troops thesedays then !!!   :icon_w00t:

[Custom_Hobby]

think we need to paint them on our troops thesedays then !!!   :icon_w00t:

Sadly that holds very true for the US forces.

[Keeper]

think we need to paint them on our troops thesedays then !!!   :icon_w00t:

Sadly that holds very true for the US forces.

Holds true for most forces, we all just tend to hear about our own country's troops most in the media.

[Custom_Hobby]

Good point, but I dont want to take this further off topic.

Back to telling Theomar about the good job he did.....

[Theomar Pius]

Good point, but I dont want to take this further off topic.

Back to telling Theomar about the good job he did.....

lol.

the camo patterns back then were designed basically to protect the aircraft from air attack while on the ground, and from ground attack while in the air. So you would have camo on top, so it couldn't be spotted while on the ground and vulnerable. The lighter color undersides were to protect from flak and anti aircraft while in the air.

Towards the end of the war, you saw the germans coming up with very intricate grey patterns, which really help to disguise an aircraft on the ground, and in the air. This was neccesary because production was so down from allied bombing, that every plane was very valuable. Today, most warplanes air painted in a nuetral grey.

The U.S. went the opposite direction, towards the end of the war. They flew against such little opposition, that they stopped painting the planes at all, and left them natural metal. What they lacked in camoflage, they made up in performance. Go to the store and pick up a gallon of paint to see what it weighs. Then think of how many gallons it would take to paint a large four engine bomber. A gallon of paint weighs about 12 pounds, and covers roughly 400 sq feet. So by leaving the planes unpainted, hundreds of pounds would be shed, making the planes able to fly faster and farther. Plus it would be cheaper to produce when you consider how many planes were being built.

[Baldemyr]

Apparently there is over a ton of paint on each B-52.




  So...any more airplane pics?  I used to make tons but sort of drifted away into tanks(especially old german) and space marines.  This really takes me back.

[Theomar Pius]

A ton each?! You can see then how a bare metal plane would be that much lighter.

I have some P-51 pics floating around, I'll see about posting them. I "did away" with most of my airplane kits a few years ago. They were taking up space, and weren't up to standard. As a distraction from the hobby though, it is a lot of fun. For not as much thought and effort, I can still get good looking results as opposed to foam terrain.

[Custom_Hobby]

You just have to love the B-52

[Hawkins]

great work.

[Theomar Pius]

Ha! that's a great pick.