Falklands Conflict paint set vol. 1

The Argentine Air Force over the South Atlantic

The Falklands conflict in the spring of 1982 lasted only a few weeks, but in the air it was an unusually varied episode. Argentina sent French Mirages, Israeli Daggers, American Skyhawks, Hercules transports, Chinook helicopters and, alongside them, its own Pucará attack aircraft. These eight shades cover the Argentine side and are specific enough that three of the bottles are reserved for a single type.

The shades and their roles

• Dark Tan to FS30219, Dark Green to FS34079 and Medium Green to FS34102, the upper surfaces of the Mirage IIIEA, Dagger, Hercules and Chinook machines
• Camouflage Grey to FS36622, the lower surfaces of the types named and of the Skyhawks
• three shades for the Pucará: light green and light brown for the upper surfaces and medium blue for the underside, all in the field camouflage applied at the units themselves
• semi-matte aluminum, the original finish of the Pucarás before the conflict, later visible on the surfaces that were left uncovered

Why the Pucará in particular

The light attack IA-58A was an Argentine home product and its camouflage was improvised on the spot, so it differed from machine to machine. The manufacturer even names the particular fuselage numbers on which it was used. For a builder that is a rarity: the paints are together for exactly the type whose references are otherwise hard to come by.

Anyone who picks one of the particular machines whose fuselage numbers the manufacturer lists has an easier job: the camouflage of such a machine is usually recorded in a photograph of the day and does not have to be guessed. The other types, by contrast, wore a uniform scheme, so one palette covers several models at once.