Israeli Air Force Paint Set

The early Israeli Air Force in six tones

The first twenty years of the Israeli Air Force looked quite different from the later desert camouflage. The very first fighter was the Avia S-199, the postwar Czechoslovak version of the Messerschmitt fitted with a Jumo bomber engine, and silver Mustangs and Mosquitos flew right alongside it. From the mid-1950s a two-tone scheme settled in with gray-blue and brown on top and light gray underneath, which lasted until the Six-Day War.

The six shades cover this era completely. Reed Green to RAL 6013 was the overall color of the first fighters, Grey-Blue to RAL 5008 and Medium Brown FS 30215 belong on the upper surfaces, Silk Grey to RAL 7044 on the underside, European I Grey FS 36081 on the undersides of the Meteor NF.13 night fighters, and Aluminium on machines that carried no camouflage at all. These are paints from the maker's blue line, that is water-thinnable acrylics.

Which machines the shades belong to

The combination of gray-blue with brown fits the Mystere, the Ouragan, the Vautour and the transport and training types of the day, because it was used across all categories except the frontline fighters. Those, on the contrary, stayed in bare metal, which is why the aluminum tone is in the box. On large areas spraying comes out more evenly, while a brush is enough for tailplanes and small panels.

Early Israeli machines came from the most varied sources, so British, French and Czechoslovak-built aircraft met on one base. What united them in color was exactly this scheme, and that is why the six shades also suit building a whole group of models from one period side by side.