I can?t believe it!!!
Two first line players and they both stumbled on basics!!!
Oil paint AE-9 - for metal only! For fabric - nitrocellulose paints only!!!Nitrocellulose varnishes stretched fabric and increased its strength. Four layers of clear AI-N were optimal. Number of layers increased, and in 1940 four layers of AI-N were followed with a coat of AII Al (to reflect UV light and protect fabric) and two coats of AII Z (camouflage colour).
If you believe that tailfin and ruder were gray, it was AII Gray.
Hope this helps.
KL
Well, thanks for that, although if I'm a first line player, it must be a very small team! I feel more like the guy in the bucket under the wing of that ARK-5 (?) in the photo you posted...
Okay, AII Gray it is!
I believe that the plain was in its original 1937 colours when captured in 1941:
silver AII Al fuselage and light gray AE-9 metal parts.
Cheers,
KL
Yes, that's what I've always believed too, or at least since learning that the cowling wasn't some decorative colour like white or yellow, probably thanks to you and/or Massimo, or maybe Mario Holly!
On the other hand, I think the dark areas behind the exhausts were overpainted roughly in black as a sort of decoration, so that exhaust stains wouldn't be so visible, as Jason also suggested.
John
