A follow-up on Tony Wray’s plane after some additional information came my way.
What camouflage color scheme was used for Wray’s plane L4R? When building the model, the references I had were contradictory:
Warpaint Series No. 12. W.A. Harrison had a color drawing of 5L (819 squadron - served on Illustrious but 5L wasn’t one of the mission craft) showing:
- Extra Dark Sea Gray / Dark Slate Gray upper mainplane upper surfaces; Sky Grey undersides and lower fuselage;
Fairey Swordfish in Action. W.A. Harrison had a cover drawing of 5H (824 squadron - ex Eagle, served on Illustrious and was a mission craft) showing:
- Extra Dark Sea Gray / Dark Slate Gray upper mainplane upper surfaces; Sky undersides and lower fuselage. Admittedly, the artwork doesn’t have the same color values as used in Warpaint Series No 12.
Air Power Modelling Vol I. Richard Caruana (artist) had a color drawing of 5L but with a different serial number (P4210) than Warpaint Series No. 12’s 5L (P4221). Although the caption says this plane was at Taranto, P4210 was definitely not per Sturtivant’s The Swordfish Story (the definitive work). Anyway, assuming the serial number is in error, this color drawing shows:
- Dark Slate Grey/Dark Sea Gray upper mainplane upper surfaces; Sky undersides and lower fuselage.
Air Power Modelling Vol I. Richard Caruana (artist) had a color drawing of 4H (815 Squadron), serial K8257. This plane was at Taranto except the serial number was not - and it is not even listed in Sturtivant. Color scheme was same as 5L/P4210 above
and lastly:
AeroMaster Fleet Air Arm Pt I shows4A (815 Squadron) with:
- Extra Dark Sea Gray / Dark Slate Gray upper mainplane upper surfaces and matt black painted over Sky Grey lower surfaces and lower half of fuselage
None of the drawings illustrated the lower mainplane upper surfaces. Depending on date, this would be either the same as the upper mainplane (post 26 Sep 1940) or Dark Sea Gray/Light Slate Gray (pre 26 Sep 1940)
So, what course of action to take? The upper surfaces were fairly clear but lower surfaces of Taranto planes could have had three different lower surfaces/lower fuselage colors based on the above.
Fortunately, I happened upon the definitive resource:
Fleet Air Arm Camouflage and Markings Atlantic and Mediterranean Theatres 1937-1941. Stuart Lloyd. 2008
This is a beautifully illustrated volume with color line drawings by Richard Caruana and a wealth of photos (some of remarkable coffee table quality) of Swordfish, Walrus, Skua, Roc, Martlet, Sea Gladiator, and Fulmar.
Lloyd goes through each of many directives from the Admiralty on camouflage schemes and then analyzes black and white photographs to determine the likely color represented in the printed tones based on understanding of how 1940s film reacted to UV light.
So, here is what I learned:
- Wray’s Squadron (815) was painted differently than Illustrious’ other Squadron (819). So much for thinking that squadrons of the same marque would be painted the same on the same carrier (!)
- On p.77 Lloyd states that when embarked on Illustrious, 815 Squadron was painted in Scheme S.1.E. – Extra dark sea gray/dark slate grey upper wing; light slate gray / dark sea gray on lower wing, sky grey lower surfaces/fuselage sky gray overpainted with black. However, based on photo evidence, Caruana does his line drawing with extra dark sea gray/dark slate gray extending all the way down the fuselage sides and black on wing undersides and presumably fuselage underside.
- Admiralty order 1719 26 Sep 1940 which defined the camouflage scheme for FAA aircraft allows for under surfaces to be matt black for operational requirements. Lloyd states this is the first written confirmation that 815 Squadron had black undersides.
- On p. 114, Lloyd states definitively that 815 Squadron were painted with black undersides and fuselage sides and that this scheme was carried forward to Taranto. This contradicts the Caruana drawing which did not have black on the fuselage sides. A photo caption repeats this for a Swordfish on Illustrious but the photo seems to support Caruana’s drawing
- On p. 116 and enlarged on back cover, there is a fairly clear photo of two 815 Squadron planes on Illustrious in October 1940 where Lloyd states “…dark under-surfaces from weathered distemper applied to fuselage and under-surfaces…” The demarcation between upper fuselage camouflage and lower fuselage dark is a straight line; not wavy.
Conclusion:
The Aeromaster line drawing is perhaps closest to the photo taken closest to 11 November 1940 although their black is too black given the photo evidence. The Caruana line drawing of 815 Squadron was done for a August 1940 photo and seems to have been superseded by repainting two months later.
Lloyd also goes into great detail on roundels and fin flashes but that’s a different story than this one here.
Note: As the photos and line drawings are all copyrighted material, I’m reluctant to post them here. But for anyone wanting to do an 815 Squadron plane at Taranto, you can short circuit your research and just use Lloyd’s book. For that matter, any FAA plane pre 1941 - go for Lloyd’s book.
In this drawing, of Wellham’s aircraft 5H, the sky grey color is present as is the serial number. There is nothing in the text to substantiate this depiction.
the text says this was a Swordfish that took part in the Taranto raid. Well, armed with my trusty Sturtivant The Swordfish Story, I looked up the serial number P4210. Sturtivant doesn’t list P4210 as a Taranto plane (but remember, he couldn’t identify 16 of the 21 planes in the raid. However, he does list in Appendix 4 that
, and the side view drawing not showing an external fuel tank - which all the planes had, then this piece of paint scheme evidence is inconclusive - not helping to resolve the black vs sky grey fuselage question raised by the Aeromaster decal research team.
. This art by Robert Taylor is a limited edition print, signed by Charles Lamb - an actual participant in the raid. You can tell from the print that the lower fuselage is not black as in the Aeromaster decal research (my previous post). The print does show the external fuel tank (good) although the oil cooler looks suspiciously like a Mk II oil cooler which wouldn’t have been present