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WW2 Aircraft Production images

Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 10:12 am
by K4KittyCrew
Hi folks, this may of interest to you all. It shows many images of aircraft from America, England, Germany.......... to name a few, being made.
Yes, there are many American images but there are many excellent photos from all three countries and I think they are differently worth a look.
I'm glad I did.
John
http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/ ... ctory.aspx

Re: WW2 Aircraft Production images

Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 8:57 pm
by halifax1
Fascinating - thank you.

I was particularly intrigued by the picture of the Halifax's about just under halfway down. Notice that they are not all exactly in line - some set behind others but the line of the camo is in line. Does this mean they are all sprayed in line regardless of position meaning that the width of the areas differs?

Re: WW2 Aircraft Production images

Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 3:26 am
by K4KittyCrew
David,

I too had the same thoughts when I saw that photo. I find it hard to imagine that there wasn't a standard pattern / format to the painting procedure.
Cheers,
John
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Re: WW2 Aircraft Production images

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:13 am
by ME453
Some excellent and intriguing items there John, thank you for posting the site. The shot of the rear section of the Lancasters also shows variation in the application of the camo pattern, I'm also interested in the photo of the Lancaster nose sections and all the white (masking?) areas on each one.

Re: WW2 Aircraft Production images

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:29 pm
by halifax1
The application of camouflage patterns has been the subject of discussion on many forums and in a number of cases simply bovine faeces baffling the grey matter!! However i have long been a fan of the idea that mats were used and I am very pleased to say that finally a chum of mine has finally (after spending many hours in the PRO (National Archives to the OIKs) discovered an instruction sent out to all factories in 1940 telling them to give up on the idea of blending the colours and to use mats as a hard edge would be acceptable. But this does not explain the variations in the halifax photo mentioned (see the black painted area on the first two aircraft) but might explain how the pattern is reproduced in a slightly different location in relation to other parts of the airframe. The only likely explanation is that .......... well, you form your own opinion!

Re: WW2 Aircraft Production images

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 2:54 am
by K4KittyCrew
Hi David, thanks for the input ................... would it be fair to say that if mat stencil was used, in a hand held way, this would give a slight variation to the general pattern.
ie - If say, Bob the stencil holder didn't lift his arms as much as he had on the previous aircraft fuselage, the stencil / mat would still give a similar shape outline albeit on a different angle ......... hope this makes sense.

With the Lancs below, is the glazing not in place or has it been masked up so to speak.
John
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