Invasion stripes?

[Alan 45]

im currently building a MKIX spit and it has the invasion stripes with the kit but on trying the first one it turned out an epic fail ( well what do you expect their Italieri) so I'm going to paint them on now I've looked at some pics online and they go from very crisp lines to very uneven like drunk chimp has had a bash

I want to do a centre ground type , straight but with uneven edges and this is no problem but in all the pics I saw you couldn't see what the coverage was and was just wondering if the camo from underneath would show through

Any help is very much appreciated

[Guest]

This question has been raised before Alan & although the stripes were often applied in rough or haphazard ways (including using brooms!) , my thought is how this can be scaled down.

What appears wonky on a full-sized aircraft wouldn't look right at 1/48 or 1/72 scale IMHO.

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

I airbrushed my C-47 stripes, I didn't burnish the end of the tape down tight so it left a slightly feathered edge to the stripes, I've had a lot of positive feedback from people seeing it saying how nice it is to see a "rough" pattern rather than a crisp decal.

Adrian

[ojays]

Found this while browsing the web recently. Hand painted with no masking etc.,

If you blow the photo up you will see it isn't a crisp line.

Hope this helps.

[ATTACH]91655.IPB[/ATTACH]


Gregg

[stona]

It depends when the markings were applied.

The order to apply them was to be units of all services "no sooner before the day of the assault than will insure [sic] the complete distribution of the information" The line was underlined for emphasis in the original.

Most units applied the markings from the 3rd/4th June, 24 to 48 hours before the original date of the invasion (5th June). They could not have anticipated the postponement. Aircraft already at their units and marked this way were painted often with the benefit of rather limited facilities, as a result let's just say that some were neater than others

A quick trawl of the net will turn up images varying from the sublime to the ridiculous.

If your subject aircraft was delivered to its unit post D-Day then the markings would have been applied at a Maintenance Unit ( or USAAF equivalent) and you can bet that they would have been neatly applied and followed the regulations. These units were properly equipped to apply such markings to aircraft before they went to their squadrons.

As for wear, the markings were always intended to be temporary and were applied using paints that could, at least theoretically, be removed at a later date. The markings do often seem to have weathered quickly in high traffic areas and around wing leading edges.

This well know picture of Johnson and Sally was taken after the upper wing stripes were removed, so the lower ones had been there a while and show some heavy weathering.



Some wear on a P-47.



However roughly applied they might have been on the day of the invasion itself they would still have been fresh.





Cheers

Steve

[Gern]

What Patrick said is correct. Even the jagged line on that bomber fuselage - I'd guess an inch or so wide - would scale down to only about 0.5mm in 1/72 scale, and the other pics that Steve found (ain't 'e good?!) show that the line would be sharp in 1/72 scale.

Trouble is, we expect to see that some of the lines won't be perfect, so when we see them perfect on a model, sometimes it just doesn't look right even though it is. That's where it boils down to personal choice.

[stona]

I cheat. I make the lines not perfectly parallel or not exactly the right width. I mean by a very small amount. It is almost impossible to see the difference, but at the same time they don't look too perfect.

I agree with Dave that if you try and make the lines look too irregular at the edges it will look overdone in scale, unless you are very careful.

Here's some of mine. The Spitfire's are 'more imperfect' that the Tempest's. Hopefully you can see what I mean.





Cheers

Steve

[Alan 45]

Cheers guys for the great response , I'm going to do as Adrian did with his c47 but I will dab it on with a brush , I have no idea if this was at the start of d day or after all I have is a very vague statement saying it was stationed at tangmere in 1944, I do know it was eddy jack Charles fighter but can't find anything on it being at tangmere

Thanks for all your help folks I appreciate it

[Alan 45]

I cheat. I make the lines not perfectly parallel or not exactly the right width. I mean by a very small amount. It is almost impossible to see the difference, but at the same time they don't look too perfect.I agree with Dave that if you try and make the lines look too irregular at the edges it will look overdone in scale, unless you are very careful.

Here's some of mine. The Spitfire's are 'more imperfect' that the Tempest's. Hopefully you can see what I mean.





Cheers

Steve

This is how I want mine to look Steve thanks for posting its the look I wanted

[spanner570]

Alan, as you are brush painting the stripes, and the white stripes are on the outside edges, paint the white stripes as a broad band......Then when dry paint the two black bands over the white last. Always dark over light, especially where brushwork is concerned.

Doing it the above way lessens the need for neat line work by half...kind'a!

[Alan 45]

Thanks for the advice guys here is my first wing , I quite like it , but is it correct that's the big question [ATTACH]91662.IPB[/ATTACH]

[stona]

Looks good to me

Cheers

Steve

[Alan 45]

Cheers Steve that means a lot

[flyjoe180]

I agree, that looks pretty good to me too Alan.

[Guest]

Looks good Alan, you model-making machine!