I?m still working on my MTO campaign - now for Il2 4.12 and HSFX 7 - and want to add historic correct generic skins for the P40?s of the 57th FG. Now the question: Are these skins for the P 40E (P 40F?s are not available in HSFX) ok for the Tunesia 1942/43 campaign? Means the colours camouflage patterns and markings. And are these skins also usable for the Sicily campaign in spring 1943?

Here the samples:

64 FS



65 FS



66 FS




help is realy appreciated

The 64FS is OK for some (later?) aircraft. According to Dana Bell's "Air Force Colors Vol.2", the first P-40Fs delivered straight from the US were painted Sand over Medium Gray. The Sand was applied over the factory OD.

The actual tone of USAAF "Sand" is almost as difficult to pin down as OD.
What you have here looks a little pinkish to me considering the OD overpaint. It could be considered accurate for a weathered plane since the paints reportedly turned more pinkish over time.

They look good!

The 64FS is OK for some (later?) aircraft. According to Dana Bell's "Air Force Colors Vol.2", the first P-40Fs delivered straight from the US were painted Sand over Medium Gray. The Sand was applied over the factory OD.

Jarink

thx for reply Jim,

does this mean a solid painting of sand or with patterns like the skin has?

And the markings with the mix of early Torch markings and later 1943 markings are ok so far?

Here's a good link - http://raf-112-squadron.org/79th_fg.html

And as for a good colour guide "Irmgard" provides that.


Regards Alan

cool linnk Alan, lot of informations, many thx

after checking the sources, i think this one will do it for the 66th FS, what do you think?

Upper wing marking correct now - the red outlined starsbars were introduced earliest in late august 1943.
A great site of 57th fighter group with lots of pics (colour pics tunisia 1943!)
and other stuff here:

http://www.57thfightergroup.org/pictures.html

ATB
Armin

Unfortunately I know nothing about MTO P-40 paint schemes (I've only looked at CBI/PTO P-40s myself) but if I may I've noticed two details you might want to adjust:
1) The holes which the exhaust pipes protrude look like they're too far back. When I made my P-40N mod skins I spent a fair amount of time on those holes so feel free to use them as a guide if you want.
2) The rectangular patch/panel forward of the exhausts was on the M and N only. The two horizontal panel lines you have extending from the exhaust panel to the spinner are correct although there was also a small verticle panel line joining those two about half way between the spinner and the exhaust pipes.

Hope this helps,

does this mean a solid painting of sand or with patterns like the skin has?

And the markings with the mix of early Torch markings and later 1943 markings are ok so far?

Boelcke

Solid sand. Field-applied paint is usually suspect as far as color correctness in my book. Not just because it may have been mixed in the field, but also because the application of the paint was usually not up to factory standards.

A lot of times, especially under combat conditions, keeping the markings up to the current standard was usually a distant second to keeping the planes in the air. It was done when it could be done (assuming the plane lasted long enough for it to matter).
I would look at as many photos as possible. There certainly could be a mix of markings, but...

ok, thx guys, a lot of informations