Tempest V cockpit collour?

[Guest]

Hi all.

I would like to know the cockpit interior colour od WW2 era RAF Tempest V's please.

SOme say grey-green and some say matt black, wich one was it?

Same with the wheelwells, some pix show green sone silver.

Was the edge between the cammo collours (grey to green) a hard or feathered soft edge?

Thanx

Theuns

[stona]

From what I've absorbed. The seat and cockpit up to the level of the top tube, which is about level with the bottom of the instrument panel, was in grey/green. The cockpit above that level and the instrument panel were black. The tubing running underneath the instrument panel was silver.

I've heard grey/green and silver quoted colours for wheel wells. The one in the RAF museum has grey/green wells and is hopefully a good restoration. I wonder if silver comes from Hawker's practice of painting wheel wells silver as on the Hurricane? I think most Tempests were built by Gloster,which puts a spanner in that works.

The camo edges look pretty hard to me on photos.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Cheers Steve!

Interesting remark about most Tempests being built by Gloster!

The Full size Hunter I am working on also has the standard silver for all internal doors/haches and wells.

I found some pix with hard edge cammo and some with soft edges, just enough to confuse us LOL!

I find the painting of the green and black in the cockpit rather interesting, any idea why this was the case? Something to do with night time chasing of doodlebugs mayby???

Theuns

[Guest]

Here is a pix of the soft edge, but at 72 scale it will only be 0.3mm wide! So it is actually "hard edge" in this scale. Also the same theme pix as the one Steve posted of the Spit getting it's zebra coat painted on LOL!

Theuns

[ATTACH]31578.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]31579.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]31580.IPB[/ATTACH]

[stona]

I think it was just an anti-glare measure. The black would start round about the pilot's elbow level. I honestly don't know.I'm just relaying information I've picked up over the years. I don't have a single reference for the Tempest and certainly don't claim any expertise at all LoL!

That camo looks pretty hard to me,I reckon it's about standard for these aircraft. I believe that that was probably masked and sprayed.

Great piccy of the Spitfire.I don't think it's getting its stripes painted but rather being armed and fueled. There's a man by each cannon access panel,one fiddling with a barrel,one topping up oil or coolant (can't remember what filler that is) and another who looks like he's fiddling with the fuel filler.What do you reckon?

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

The Tempest V, being rebuilt 1 mile away from here, has an all-green cockpit, including the tubular framework and seat. The green/black idea seems to stem from the use of some aircraft for night, as well as day, flying; you can see it in the Seafire 17, at Yeovilton, but not in the 22 & 24s at Hendon and Duxford, possibly because Spitfires were never used for nightfighting after 1940/1. The Hendon Tempest V, before it was rebuilt, had green wheel wells, but the cockpit had been sprayed with some mucky brown preservative, so it was impossible to say what it was originally.

Edgar

[Guest]

I also recon it must have something to do with night ops. I did the half green half black thing.

Steve, do you recon that pix with the stripes is of a Spit? I thought it was a Tempest or Typhoon LOL!

Theuns

[stona]

Steve, do you recon that pix with the stripes is of a Spit? I thought it was a Tempest or Typhoon LOL!

Theuns

It is,must get my eyes tested!

Cheers

Steve