RAF Hercules originally delivered in bare metal?

[Proplinerman]

Here is a link to a photo uploaded to Flickr today by David Whitworth, who posts here:

XV178 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://tinyurl.com/6dfly7b)

From this, it would seem that the RAF's Hercs were perhaps originally delivered in bare metal finish, then presumably camouflaged by Marshall at Cambridge. Certainly something I never knew-I have only ever seen RAF Hercs in camo. Can anyone confirm?

[Brian 48nav]

Yes they were - I can remember seeing a picture of one in Air pictorial,IIRC Dec 66 edition, when I was at nav school. Little did I know I'd be the first 'baby nav' posted to them four months later!

Marshalls painted them and I think fitted some of the nav gear, and again IIRC they were delivered without autopilot fitted.

Just checked, the front cover of Dec66 has a photo of the first, XV176 at Marietta and a short article inside outlining the proposed changes for Transport Command, as it still was.

[Proplinerman]

Thanks for that-they do look striking in bare metal.