Willard, The posts that signed off that scheme have signed off a number of all over WWII colour schemes on Hawks and Tucanos over the last few years, the main issue on RAF specials is not the colour scheme but the cost of the repaint which is normally funded at Sqn level (hence the reason most squadron anniversary schemes are limited to the fin and spine, as a repaint of more than 25% of the surface requires the aircraft to have weight and C of G checks carried out, plus of course somebody has to actually design the scheme in the first place). 22 Group on the other hand have made habit of painting up the solo display trainers in special schemes (208 Sqn's 100th anniversary scheme has the back half of a Hawk painted up in WWI camouflage and markings, while there have been early WWII day fighter and Western Desert schemes done on the Tucano). Hopefully now this one has been done, they will go the whole hog on a Typhoon in 4 years time and do a full D-day Hawker Typhoon paint job. That would look really good.

Thanks Dave, though when I saw the photo of it taken by a spotter in the paint shop at Coningsby, the painters were still putting the decals on it.

I can see why Germany has banned the Nazi Swastika, although a part of me thinks that hiding away from the fact of its previous existence is somewhat foolish. If you don't remember history, you cannot learn from it and if you don't learn from it, you're condemned to repeat it!*

Just my £0.02. :)

*I am not at all suggesting that Germany will repeat the mistakes of the past, by the way.

The German position is that it is acceptable to display the Nazi swastika for historic 'scholarly' reasons, e.g. a surviving aircraft from WW2 in a museum such as the Me163 Komet at Gatow.

That isn't something you could apply to painting swastikas on a Eurofighter.

That's interesting BEagle, but I think they might be stricter about the swastika than even that.

The Me109 currently flying in Germany is certainly an historic artifact, yet it has had its tail swastika replaced with the national flag....


http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/...ps06zcfn2g.jpg

Which is why Airfix never used the Hakenkreuz, so they could sell their models in Germany.

teeter - I think you'll find they did sell their kits in the good ole' FDR and some poor sap had to go through them and cut the swastika transfers out of the sheets! I knows 'coz I was there! (Many kits bought as a yoof from the toy shop in Elmpt and the one on the road to Bruggen - happy days start with the smell of glue and enamel paint :})

MAINJAFAD, other nations seem to have an eye, and the will, for one-off paint schemes. If those are the reasons for the distinct lack of imagination and design flair shown on the vast majority of our 'anniversary' jets then they (the reasons) should be changed, not just accepted.

Leon, lovely Luftwaffe paintjob on the Tiff; needs a yellow nose, as in "Yellow nosed bastards coming down!" :ok:

Interestingly (or not) enough the German QWI crew room in Holloman, New Mexico has a model 109 and Stuka hanging from the roof. Both have the swastika on the tail replaced by a simple cross, although from memory it is rotated by the 45 degrees. Great bunch those boys, hosted us very well indeed.

Willard, The problem is more to do with money than imagination, though somebody with some graphics skill is required to come up with the scheme. The Germans either invite or take up the offer of an artist to design their schemes and paint an aircraft that is due deep strip sometime in the near future as the special. The RAF aircraft that normally gets the anniversary scheme is normally the OC's aircraft and the design is most likely done as an in-house competition within the unit (hence the reason most of them look like they have been designed on back of an envelope). I was involved in the design of a well known special about 8 years ago (My aircraft profile was used by the designer to design the scheme (My brother who was on the squadron at the time) and some of the ideas are on the image below including the final scheme which I produced for the squadron at the same time as the jet was being painted), OC 6 Sqn at the time did very much want the Jaguar to go out of service in style. The OC's aircraft in this case was not used as it was on deployment when the aircraft had to hit the paint shop and the final scheme was done by an artist from a well known car company who partly paid for the paint job.

http://108.imagebam.com/download/RF6...492139/Jag.jpg

There are people in the RAF who can do this type thing, as Mr Clave who did the 'Nazi' Typhoon is an ex RAF Bloodhound Technician, like myself.

Bloodhound Mk 2 85 Sqn by WS-Clave on DeviantArt

Typhoon in retro scheme
 

What do we think?

http://www.globalaviationresource.co...ured/Gar02.jpg

Time -warp some of these back to summer 1940.......

HB

MAINJAFAD, in the first 3 of your pussy-piccies, the fin graphic looks like a cat couging up a hairball....

The spotty ones are very good though!

As is the Typhoon in retro camouflage. Does anyone in the RAF really call it a 'Tiffie', or is that some spotter thing, such a 'Brick' for Buccaneer?

Never heard anyone in a blue suit call it a 'Tiffie'. :yuk: Definitely a spotter thing.

349 looks great in the camo scheme. Can we have a IX Sqn GR4 in all-over Lancaster colours pleeeeeeeeease? Before they get chopped by the next government in SDSR15....

IMHO
 

A worthy and very appropriate paint job representing "The Few" both then and now


...but I still think it looks a bit ugly - a bit like the Belgian F-104s at Bauvechain in the 70s. This is only my personal opinion, of course.

Anyone remember all the US Navy schemes from their 100th anniversary?

With the RAF bash in 2018 wouldn't it be great if...

Tornado in anti-flash white... C-17 in Air Support Command colours... Hawk in silver with yellow bands... Tucano in overall yellow... Nurse! My medication!

Never heard any spotter, at least none of the one's I know, call it a 'Tiffie' either. :yuk: Definitely NOT a spotter thing... :ok:

-RP

Martin, you missed the sticky-back dayglo somewhere in that list! I still have the remains of a sheet somewhere! :cool:

No he hasn't MPM11, as its already been painted on an 'in service' aircraft that actually wore the scheme (see link).

RAF BBMF - The Chipmunk.

.

http://107.imagebam.com/download/crB...800TORNADO.jpg

It would look good (unfortunately I've not got a Tornado profile to the same standard as my Jaguars). The Nose art work of the most famous 9 Sqn Lanc is unfortunately a No-No as far as special paint schemes go due to copyright reasons and I've been told by somebody in the know that the RAF Tornados that have been painted all over Black (A GR 1 of TTTE and and F3 of 43 Sqn) suffered from Solar heating issues under the skin due to the black finish (though there are ways to negate this (which of course cost more money)).

BEagle

The puking cat wasn't my design (they were a few of the original designs due for the last jaguar scheme done by somebody else on a multi layered jaguar profile I did for another project (a cutaway of the original showing some of the different layers is below)). Some of the other ideas had a Leaping Jaguar like the car firm logo (which was not allowed due to the regulations, though Jaguar Cars who helped pay for the final scheme managed to get a Leaping Jaugar on to the air frame (its just below the leading edge of the fin on the port side of the real aircraft)). The Spotty jet scheme was based on a scheme done on a German Tornado for a Tiger Meet and there was a version of the design that used the colours of a real jaguar, though when finished it looked like somebody has poo'ed on the aircraft, hence the orange finish with black spots.

http://105.imagebam.com/download/azp...ag%20patch.jpg

I am definitely going to Bournemouth this year. I want images of that!