Modern RN Fleet Air Arm Paint Set Vol. 1

The gray palette of the Fleet Air Arm

Since the sixties the helicopters and aircraft of the British decks have dressed in gray, but certainly not in one gray. Depending on the type and the period there is a very dark shade, a medium tone, a lighter sea gray and finally a flat variant meant to suppress reflections during low-level flight. This group of six makes it possible to tell them apart side by side in a single display case.

Also included is the light tone of the undersides used on older machines and a white in a shade originally intended as protection against flash. It appeared on machines able to carry special armament, and you still meet it today on museum exhibits and on the retro finishes of present-day squadrons.

Overview

• six shades focused on the modern Fleet Air Arm
• three steps of sea gray for telling types and periods apart
• Barley Grey for the camouflage pattern of helicopters
• anti-flash white for older and for present-day ceremonial finishes

Before you start spraying

Gray shades are very hard to compare on a model by eye, so always spray them side by side on a strip of plastic and let them dry. The difference between wet and dried paint tends to be greater with grays than with deep tones. This range is tuned for brush application, which anyone painting small helicopter parts and rotor heads will appreciate. On helicopters it also pays to mix a noticeably lighter variant of the base tone for the surfaces exposed to the sun, because those wear first.