I saw this the other day that the ideal color for "daytime stealth" from a visual perspective is pastel pink. While looking for more info, I came across someone saying the RAF used these guys in WWII for recon. Very, very tempting to take the spray paint to my Spit
http://www.acf.clara.net/scale/scale-pi ... spit-1.jpg
How about this Spit paint scheme?
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Morian Miner
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flpickupman
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Morian Miner
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that PR spitfire in the photo is the PR Mk XI and is based on the MK VIII/IX airframe, which had a lot of detail differences from the Mk I/II that is the 21c rendition.
There were several PR spitfires based on the mk I though. Here's some info:
"PR Mk. I Types - Early Reconnaissance Versions
Before the Second World War the conventional wisdom was to use converted bomber types for airborne photo reconnaissance. These bombers retained their defensive armament, which was vital since they were unable to avoid interception.
In 1939 Flying Officer Maurice Longbottom was among the first to suggest that airborne reconnaissance may be a task better suited to fast, small aircraft which would use their speed and high service ceiling to avoid detection and interception. He proposed the use of Spitfires with the armaments and radios removed and replaced with extra fuel and cameras.
As a result Spitfires were used for reconnaissance throughout the war. The original reconnaissance models were based on the Mk. I as follows:
The PR Mk. IA had two F .24 cameras with 5 inch focal length lenses which could photograph a rectangular area below the aircraft. They were installed in the wing space vacated by the inboard guns and their ammunition containers as a stop-gap measure. It had been envisaged that much larger cameras would be installed in the fuselage immediately behind the pilot, but at the time the engineering capacity required to make this conversion to the Mk. I was not available.
In the PR Mk. IB the camera lenses were upgraded to an 8 inch focal length, giving images up to a third larger in scale. It also had an extra fuel tank in the rear fuselage and was designated a medium range aircraft.
The PR Mk. IC carried more fuel still and was the first photo reconnaissance aircraft to reach as far as Kiel. The extra fuel was carried in a tank behind the pilot and a blister tank under the port wing, which was counterbalanced by a camera installation on the starboard wing.
The PR Mk. ID was the backbone of RAF photographic reconnaissance in 1941 and 1942. It carried so much fuel that it was nicknamed "the bowser". Early production models were very badly balanced and consequently difficult to fly. Despite these difficulties the type quickly proved its worth, photographing such long distance targets as Stettin, Marseilles, Trondheim and Toulon. Later models were better balanced, had the more powerful Merlin 45 engine as used by the Mk. V, and had heated cabins which were a great comfort to pilots on such long flights. A total of 229 Type Ds were built and the type was later re-designated the PR Mk. IV.
The PR Mk. IE was built to address a requirement for oblique close-ups as opposed to high altitude vertical pictures. It is believed that only one Type E was built, N3117. It carried a single F .24 camera under each wing looking downwards at about 15 degrees below the horizontal. It proved most useful as it was able to photograph targets under weather conditions that would make high altitude photography impossible.
The PR Mk. IF was a "super-long-range" version which entered service in July 1940. It was a useful enough improvement that nearly all existing Type Bs and Type Cs were eventually converted to the Type F standard. Operating from East Anglia it was just able to reach, photograph, and return from Berlin.
The PR Mk. IG performed a similar role as the Type E before it. However the Type G carried the normal 8 gun fighter armament as otherwise the aircraft would have been very vulnerable to enemy fighters. It was designed to photograph its targets from just below the cloud base, wherever that happened to be. "
Most if not all the early spitfire PR versions were in the PR pink, which is a very pale and flat pink colour. Not vivid at all. They were no longer in use by DDay so you should leave the DDay stripes off to be totally correct. Many PR spits had the radios removed so you could take the radio mast off and also, plug the gun holes, as PR spits were all unarmed. I believe some of them had a 'slipper tank' which was a long range fuel tank fitted to the underside of the wing. If you did a bit of research you'd probably find some pics. The slipper tank is very different from what a normal long range fuel tank looks like being flattened and having an airfoil shape to it.
Good project!
There were several PR spitfires based on the mk I though. Here's some info:
"PR Mk. I Types - Early Reconnaissance Versions
Before the Second World War the conventional wisdom was to use converted bomber types for airborne photo reconnaissance. These bombers retained their defensive armament, which was vital since they were unable to avoid interception.
In 1939 Flying Officer Maurice Longbottom was among the first to suggest that airborne reconnaissance may be a task better suited to fast, small aircraft which would use their speed and high service ceiling to avoid detection and interception. He proposed the use of Spitfires with the armaments and radios removed and replaced with extra fuel and cameras.
As a result Spitfires were used for reconnaissance throughout the war. The original reconnaissance models were based on the Mk. I as follows:
The PR Mk. IA had two F .24 cameras with 5 inch focal length lenses which could photograph a rectangular area below the aircraft. They were installed in the wing space vacated by the inboard guns and their ammunition containers as a stop-gap measure. It had been envisaged that much larger cameras would be installed in the fuselage immediately behind the pilot, but at the time the engineering capacity required to make this conversion to the Mk. I was not available.
In the PR Mk. IB the camera lenses were upgraded to an 8 inch focal length, giving images up to a third larger in scale. It also had an extra fuel tank in the rear fuselage and was designated a medium range aircraft.
The PR Mk. IC carried more fuel still and was the first photo reconnaissance aircraft to reach as far as Kiel. The extra fuel was carried in a tank behind the pilot and a blister tank under the port wing, which was counterbalanced by a camera installation on the starboard wing.
The PR Mk. ID was the backbone of RAF photographic reconnaissance in 1941 and 1942. It carried so much fuel that it was nicknamed "the bowser". Early production models were very badly balanced and consequently difficult to fly. Despite these difficulties the type quickly proved its worth, photographing such long distance targets as Stettin, Marseilles, Trondheim and Toulon. Later models were better balanced, had the more powerful Merlin 45 engine as used by the Mk. V, and had heated cabins which were a great comfort to pilots on such long flights. A total of 229 Type Ds were built and the type was later re-designated the PR Mk. IV.
The PR Mk. IE was built to address a requirement for oblique close-ups as opposed to high altitude vertical pictures. It is believed that only one Type E was built, N3117. It carried a single F .24 camera under each wing looking downwards at about 15 degrees below the horizontal. It proved most useful as it was able to photograph targets under weather conditions that would make high altitude photography impossible.
The PR Mk. IF was a "super-long-range" version which entered service in July 1940. It was a useful enough improvement that nearly all existing Type Bs and Type Cs were eventually converted to the Type F standard. Operating from East Anglia it was just able to reach, photograph, and return from Berlin.
The PR Mk. IG performed a similar role as the Type E before it. However the Type G carried the normal 8 gun fighter armament as otherwise the aircraft would have been very vulnerable to enemy fighters. It was designed to photograph its targets from just below the cloud base, wherever that happened to be. "
Most if not all the early spitfire PR versions were in the PR pink, which is a very pale and flat pink colour. Not vivid at all. They were no longer in use by DDay so you should leave the DDay stripes off to be totally correct. Many PR spits had the radios removed so you could take the radio mast off and also, plug the gun holes, as PR spits were all unarmed. I believe some of them had a 'slipper tank' which was a long range fuel tank fitted to the underside of the wing. If you did a bit of research you'd probably find some pics. The slipper tank is very different from what a normal long range fuel tank looks like being flattened and having an airfoil shape to it.
Good project!
i never met an airplane i didn't like...