WWII RAF AIRCRAFT DESERT COLORS

Sand, earth and blue over North Africa

Sandy and brown tones with a pale blue underside were worn by British squadrons from the moment the fighting moved to Egypt and Libya. The finish came about as a direct answer to a setting where there is nothing to hide with green: the machine was to blend with the parched plain seen from above and with the baking sky seen from below. The characteristic pair was a darker earth and a lighter sand tone.

Which machines looked like this

Such a scheme is associated with Spitfires in tropical fit with the bulky filter under the nose, with Hurricanes, with American Kittyhawks in the service of British and Allied squadrons and with the twin-engine machines of support units. Anyone building any aircraft of the desert campaign needs exactly these three tones.

Working with the paint

The binder is acrylic, it is thinned with water or with thinner of the same brand and the paint is ready to spray. African machines tended to be chipped, faded and dusty, so it pays to lighten each shade slightly toward the middle of the panels before application. Dust settled from the landing gear upward then does the rest of the job.

What is not in the box

The set contains paints only. For bringing out the panel lines, for the dust deposits and for the final matte varnish count on separate products. The cockpit interior and the landing gear bays likewise have their own shades, which did not fit into this selection because they follow different regulations from the external surfaces. The wing leading edges deserve particular attention, because that is where the paint went first and the metal showed through.