Revell P-47 M

This non-standard camo has been described as dark or midnight blue over a light or sky blue. The undersides were unpainted bare metal (aluminum). Sorry, I don't use Humbrol so can't give you their codes. I used Testors Model Master enamels on mine. I used Dark Sea Blue over Intermediate Blue, which are USNAF colors. I lightened the Intermediate Blue with about 10% white. Probably not 100% accurate, but close enough for me.

I've got the Revell kit also. I plan to build it in a near future year. I amd also doing a minor conversion of a Monogram D to and M. You see the plans call for
FS 35052 and FS 35231. Camouflage and Markings P47 USAAF ETO calls these colors Dark Mediterranean Blue and Azure Blue. Squadron/signal 56th Fighter Group calls the colors Dark French Blue and Light Azure Blue. My color chart has no 35052, but it would fll in the sea blue range. A paint reference I have gives 35109 as the number for Med. blue and 35231 for azure blue which matches the plans. The med blue is not as dark as sea blue. It is more like Intermediate blue. I can't find any reference to french blue. Squadron lists these colors in the Humbrol line. French blue #14, Midnight blue #15, Med blue #48 and it's gloss. Azure is #157. Aluminum is #56 and silver is #191. The rudder is supposed to be blue, but I can't find a name or fs number. In the black and white picture in 56th Fighter group, the rudder looks the same tone as the light color on the fuselage. The color drawing is a darker blue, but not the fuselage color. The canopy frame, leading edges of the air foils and the underside are aluminum. How you want to represent this is up to you. The unpainted aircraft I had contact with every day were dirty and had a dingy, not shiney in appearance.

The only color I have used is azure and it is close to my color chip. Sorry if this rambles and hope it helps.

Sorry, I don't have a Humbrol color chart, so I don't know if the other colors are close or not.

Does the new Revell P-47M have the later model split case PW R-2800?

Yes, the engine is a 57-C that was used in the M, and several other a/c according to Allied Piston Engines.

Here's a photo of a 63rd FS Jug with the 2-blues scheme. It's not "Shoot You're Faded" but it probably has the same colors in the camo that "Shoot..." would have had. I know I have at least one shot of "Shoot..." somewhere, though I don't think it's in color. I'll dig some and see what I come up with.



Hope this is of help!

Fade to Black...

I was going to use azure blue and a British color called Oxford Blue that was used on Sea Furies supplied to the Australian Navy. Humbrol actually manufactures Oxford Blue. One thing I seem to remember reading somewhere was that during the painting process, the painters started running low on the darker blue paint. They resorted to mixing other dark colors with the blue to stretch out the supply, resorting in varying shades of dark blue. A friend of mine seems to recall being told by Harold "Bunny" Comstock that the darker color on his M was not really blue.

Yeah, there's been discussion for years about the blues, especially the dark blue. Some think it's a really dark blue (midnight blue was the tag given), some think it's black, some think purple and some think it's a combination of different dark colors.

The bit about stretching the paint supply and the resulting change in color has been mentioned in many books and other literary works. I've never had occasion to actually talk to anyone who may have been directly involved, however! Whatever the actuality, I guess this is a case of "we'll never know for sure"! Hope not, though...

Fade to Black...

The camo pattern illustrated is pretty much standard for the 63rd FS during the period that they used the blues over natural metal.