Model Forum / General / Models / January 2006

The main reason I'm asking is that I'm building the same models
from the same tooling. It's just that I seem to remember that
the underside colour had far more blue in the colour than is
suggested now. I do accept that there has been decal changes,
so it's likely that the colour scheme has been updated at the
same time.

Oddly enough, I built a Brewster Buffalo which suggested
"Concrete" as the underside colour. This hadn't changed
although "Concrete" has since been replaced with "Beige Green".
However, things appear to have changed in the Spitfire and
Hurricane department.

Spudgun

Info on various brands and matches can be found at
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/colorcharts_2.asp

-and it's handy to bookmark that page for future reference.

HTH

Chek

Pedant: The name of the colour is just "sky" The 'Type S' was supposed to
refer to all colours to distinguish them from the matt colours that had
previously been in use. The Ministry Order read "...Dark green, Dark Earth
and Sky, type S..." (note that comma?) Subsequently, colour researchers
misread the colour as 'Sky type S'. The mistake has survived to this day,
and looks like it will be perpetuated down the generations.

Airfix used to specify Duck Egg Blue, and Humbrol even had a colour mixed
(Humbrol# 23). It was later discovered to be incorrect, thus the
substitution of Sky.

Airfix usually give Humbrol colour references.  Humbrol Beige Green is
No. 90, a very pale green/blue matt shade.  Duck Egg Blue is No. 23 also
very pale but quite a bit blue-er.

I seem to remember that "Duck-Egg Blue" was the description given back
in the '70's, too.  But the subject is a lot more complicated than that ;-)

In June 1940 the Air Ministry decided to change the underside colour of
the Day Fighter scheme to Sky, a colour that had been developed by
Sidney Cotton for reconnaisance aircraft (he called it Camotint).  Sky
is a light grey-green shade, the best modelling equivalent being
Xtracolor X7; Humbrol does not do a good Sky.

The fighter units in the field could not get enough of the proper Sky
colour to repaint their aircraft - it was a new paint, and made by a new
process, to achieve the Type S smooth semi-matt finish.  So Squadrons
were asking Stores for Sky paint and being told there was none
available.  Thrown back on their own resources, they had to first find
out what colour Sky actually was!  The Air Ministry, when asked,
described it as Duck Egg Bluish Green - which I get the feeling was
ministry-speak for "buggered if I know, squire"  :-)

Very shortly afterward they were fighting for all our lives, and the
proper colour of Sky wasn't all that important.

Paul Lucas' research, matching paint samples from various preserved
aircraft bits, provides convincing evidence for six shades being used on
actual BoB-period aircraft.
1) Sky Grey - light grey
2) Sky - the light grey-green Camotint-inspired shade
3) Sky Blue - light powder blue
4) BS381(1930) No.16 Eau-de-Nil - pale green (Duck-egg Green?)
5) BS381(1930) No.1 Sky Blue - aquamarine blue (Duck-egg Blue?)
6) an unidentified light blue-grey seen on some Gloster-built Hurricanes.

Apart from the last, all of these would have been available in the
supply chain, and if Sky wasn't available, the Squadrons would have used
the next nearest shade they could get their hands on.  Even photographs
aren't going to help you decide which shade to use - much research,
using recent publications, is indicated.  I think many older
publications may have gone with the official Air Ministry line (Sky,
Type S).

Paul Lucas thinks that the various shades of Sky or not-Sky persisted
until mid-1941 and the adoption of the Dark Green-Ocean Grey-Medium Sea
Grey scheme.

My own utterly empirical assessment is that the following colours are
closest out-of-the-tin to the various Sky or not-quite-Sky shades.

Sky Grey (FAA)         :Close to Humbrol 146 (Aircraft Grey, FS 16473)
BS 318 No.16 Eau-de-nil:Humbrol 90 (Beige Green)
BS 318 No. 1 Sky Blue  :Close to Humbrol 65 (Aircraft Blue)
Sky                    :Xtracolour X7 (Sky)
Sky Blue (RAE)         :Humbrol 122 (Pale Blue, FS35622),
                          possibly 23 (Duck Egg Blue)?

Hope that was some use . . .

Back in the 70s the recommendatio would be for Airfix paints for which
there was a limited range...
Rather than have to worry about mixing they might often suggest the
closest.

If this is for a RAF aircraft the closest Humbrol match for Sky is
probably 90 "beige green" unless you want to mix.

I suggest a read of this:

http://ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/colorcharts.asp