Falklands Conflict paint set vol. 1

Argentine aircraft over the Falklands

The conflict of 1982 lasted barely three months, but in terms of color it is one of the most interesting episodes of postwar aviation. The Argentine machines went into action in camouflage that was done partly in the factory and partly directly at field airfields, and the difference is clearly visible in photographs.

The first half of the package covers the factory scheme: two greens and a sandy brown shade for the upper surfaces, a light gray for the underside. This combination was worn by Mirage IIIEA machines, converted IAI Daggers, Hercules transports and heavy Chinook helicopters. The same gray also appeared on A-4C aircraft in the so-called Andean camouflage.

• A pair of greens and a sandy brown shade of the factory scheme
• The light gray of the lower surfaces
• Three shades of the field camouflage of the Pucara ground-attack aircraft
• The semi-matte aluminum of the original all-metal look
• Eight bottles of lacquer paint

The second half belongs exclusively to the IA-58A turboprop ground-attack aircraft. Their camouflage came into being in the field, had a light green of its own, a light sand tone and an unusual medium blue on the underside. The source material moreover names the specific machines on which this combination appeared, so a documented example can be built rather than a generic variant.

The eighth bottle is a semi-matte aluminum. Before the conflict the ground-attack aircraft flew without camouflage, and the glossy metal surface survived on them afterwards too on the lower surfaces and in places the new paint did not reach.

This is a lacquer range thinned with the manufacturer's lacquer thinner. The metallic shade has a particularly fine grain in it and takes polishing.