Modern Royal Air Force paint set vol. 3

Training machines from silver to black

The appearance of British training aircraft changed three times over seventy years. Until 1966 they carried a glossy silver surface complemented by yellow or luminous orange elements. Then came a light gray, which was later replaced by a conspicuous combination of white, red and blue. And from 1998 British students fly machines finished all-black, which paradoxically improved visibility against cloud.

The breakdown of shades

• Silver — the glossy surface of the training machines until 1966
• Luminous Orange — the luminous warning areas over the silver and the gray
• BS Light Aircraft Grey is the overall finish after 1966, later only the wings
• Traffic White — the upper part of the fuselage and the vertical tail in the three-color form
• BS Signal Red — the underside of the fuselage and the wingtips of the same scheme
• BS Roundel Blue — the spine and the tail surfaces of the later variant
• Jet Black — the overall finish from 1998
• BS Golden Yellow — the training bands and the engine covers of helicopters

What it is suited to

The eight cover the Jet Provost, Gnat, Bulldog, Tucano and the training Hawks in all their color periods, and with them the helicopters of the training units. Anyone building one type across the decades will manage with a single package.

The luminous orange calls for a light base, as otherwise it loses its saturation; the silver, on the contrary, needs a perfectly smooth surface, because metallic pigments bring out every sanding scratch. The remaining tones are opaque and behave in the ordinary way when sprayed.