WWI RFC & RNAS. BRITISH AIRCRAFT COLORS

The finishes of British machines from 1914 to 1918

The British air service of the day had no unified camouflage regulation of the kind builders of later periods know. The fabric covering was protected by a covering dope designated PC10, that is protective covering number ten, whose main job was to stop the sun from breaking the fabric down. The resulting tone ranged from olive green to dark chocolate depending on the batch, the age and the degree of fading, which is why the box offers both an early and a late version.

It is completed by PC12, a version of the same dope shifted noticeably toward brown, and by a gray-blue tone used on Royal Naval Air Service machines. That one separates seaplanes and coastal patrol aircraft from the units operating over the front. With these four colors you can cover types such as the Sopwith Camel, the S.E.5a, the Bristol F.2B or the Airco DH.4 throughout their service.

The contents are water-thinnable acrylics in bottles of seventeen milliliters. The pigment is finely ground, so the coat stays thin and does not flood the raised ribbing or the fine fuselage stringers. Stir the paint thoroughly before spraying it, because it settles when left standing for a while.

The dried surface is matte. If you are planning decals, allow for an intermediate gloss coat, otherwise a silvery veil will appear under the film and the edge will show even after varnishing.

Remember that on a number of machines the undersides of the wings were left in clear dope and daylight shines through them. This yellowish, translucent surface cannot be mixed from a bottle and is handled with a separate shade, which is not included in this box. The set covers every other area without exception, though, including the sheet metal engine cowlings and the wooden propellers, where the base only needs tuning with a few drops of brown from your own stock.