RAF WWII DESERT COLORS

The desert coat of British fighters

The camouflage worn by Royal Air Force aircraft over Egypt, Libya and Tunisia is one of the most recognizable patterns of the whole war. The upper surfaces received a pair of earthy tones, sand and brown, laid out in soft fields following the outline of the airframe, while the underside stayed in a light azure blue meant to hide the machine against the desert sky. Hurricanes, tropical Spitfires and Kittyhawks of the squadrons operating along the coast all flew in this finish.

Box contents

The set has four parts. Besides the sand, the brown and the azure blue it also contains red, which the modeler uses on small things such as markings and colored items of equipment. The shades chosen are named in general terms rather than after the British color standard, so it is sensible to stick to photographs of a particular aircraft: period finishes also faded quickly in the sun, and the same squadron could have noticeably different aircraft within a few months.

Properties and application

These are water-based acrylics. They are taken straight from the bottle, thinned with water or with an acrylic thinner of the same brand, and the airbrush cup rinses out easily as long as the paint has not dried. The pigment is fine, so the coats can be laid on thinly and the desert tones can be lightened by adding step by step. That is exactly where it helps with desert camouflage: a transition between the center of a panel and its edge does more on a model than the most accurate shade from a bottle. It pays to seal the finished paintwork with a varnish before weathering, because the alcohol contained in washes can break up a thin acrylic coat.