Picked this kit up recently. My first from Sword. The big question is... So what blue/grey color(colour) did you pick to paint your spit?

I would guess, since this is a Mediterranean area of operations, that the Spitfire's would be camoflauged in British Azure Blue undersides with Dark Earth and British Middlestone upper surfaces. Any Spitfire experts chime in on this one, I could very well be off. Russell

Well, That is where the weirdness starts. Apparently all spitfires heading to Malta especially the ones in the 'Desert' camo where repainted or over sprayed with some blue/grey color(colour) either on the way, when they stopped in Gibraltar or done when they got to Malta. I guess the issue was the desert camo really sticks out over the ocean... The kit instructions mention doing a ‘thinned’ color(colour) of some blue/grey or gray/dark sea something. Heck there is mention that some that were delivered to Malta on the USS Wasp were over painted with US Navy colors(colours). But I think the 2 subjects in this kit came to Malta after that (June ’42). I thought this was going to be an easy subject. I have been using Ospreys ‘Spitfire Aces of Malta’ as a starting point. Time to get KitMaker guru’s involved

Oh, you're into real can o' worms territory, with this one.
The first Wasp delivery took desert-schemed Spitfires, which were overpainted (on top) with paint taken from Wasp's lockers; the likeliest (in my guesstimation) is the blue used for Wasp's metal upperworks (not the desk stain,) which was Deck Blue 20-B (available from White Ensign as WEMCC US10.)
Immediately after that delivery, Malta asked that future deliveries should be in Sea Scheme, and this is what was set out in the orders for Wasp's second delivery (copies of which are still in our National Archives,) and which would have been the Temperate Sea Scheme of Dark Slate Grey/Extra Dark Sea Grey, but with the undersides remaining in Azure Blue, since Malta had said, as early as 1940, they had no intention of using Sky.
To add (a little) weight to this, there are photos of Keith Park running up a Spitfire V, ready for take-off, and the upper colours are clearly T.S.S. Remember that, in bright sunlight, EDSG can easily take on a bluish appearance.
Edgar

Thanks for the reply. Yes, when you mention Malta Spitfires - you get the 'Can o' Worms' tag. You have reinforced what I think I want to do (I think). The kit choices for the Spitfires are BR-321 and BR-387. From what I have dug up, these 2 arrived in Malta in June ’42 (like the first couple days of the month) and assigned to 185 Squadron. From what I have gathered they originally were painted the desert scheme (Sky undersides not Azure blue) in England and when shipped to Gibraltar they were then repainted/over painted with the mysterious blue/grey before being sent to Malta. With that I have been favoring the EDSG color(colour) figuring Gibraltar wasn’t so ‘loose’ on what paint they would use. Which is why I posted this subject. I just wanted to get a consensus from other modelers on what they might have done to tackle this subject and what their conclusion was. With a can o worm’s you could say the worst day of modeling can be a best day of fishing or something like that...

The Spitfire IX (BS 119), serving with 401sqn.,RCAF was reportedly camoflauged with a dark sea grey over a medium sea grey, giving her an overall blue appearance. I wonder if this was because she was originally destined for Malta? instead of the Dieppe beaches where my literature says the scheme was seen.

Personally, I don't believe msg over dsg is accurate, as the undersides were likely medium sea grey to begin with.

Your right, this is a 'can of worms'. I'm no expert! I was hoping to do that Spitfire with my 32 Tamiya, though.

So has anyone bought the sword kit yet? Any ideas on what you will do for the color of the spit ?

I have enlisted in the 'Club Med' Campaign and will be doing this kit.

https://archive.kitmaker.net/forums/204088



Cheers