Barker's Snipe colours

[Dave in Dubai]

Hello,

I am currently building the WNW Snipe and intend to finish it in the colours of Barker's machine.

The fuselage is held in a museum in Canada, but the pictures on the internet are quite dark.

Can anyone tell me whether the metal panels were painted in Service Gray as per the Sopwith factory finish?

The TVAL replica is beautiful, but the gray colour they have used appears to be very light, compared to the picture of the actual machine.

A well known photo on the internet of Barker's aircraft after his famous VC action, shows the gray panels to be fairly dark, but not the same colour as the fuselage.

On the fuselage displayed in Canada, most of the metal cowl and fuselage panels are missing, however the few panels still attached
Look to be exactly the same as the fuselage colour...PC10(?)

What colour were they?

Finally, does anyone know what became of his "cock-a-snoot " red devil mascot, which was mounted on the starboard Vickers gun?
Perhaps it is on show in a museum somewhere?

Gratefull thanks to any members who can answer my questions.

[lcarroll]

Dave,
    I have the Kit and am eagerly waiting for the Pheon Sheet with Barker's markings to be available. I toured the Canadian War Museum two years back and the fuselage was not on display. In all the photos I've seen or have copies of the finish was standard............PC10 Fabric surfaces with the cowling/metal areas in the Service (or as JM Bruce describes it in WS Data File 46) Battleship Grey. I believe the dark or contrasted areas and panels you see are due to varied lighting conditions.
   Perhaps Gary (Trackpad) who has visited the Museum far more then I can help. I'll PM him today.
   Interesting question on the Red Devil mascot; it would be wonderful if it were preserved somewhere.
   In the absence of any changed info I intend to mine as described above. Last, Rowan at Pheon Decals takes a very "researched" approach to his products, it will be interesting to get his version when the decals are published.
   What say ye, Rowan?? Any info available on the finish as a preview?
Cheers,
Lance

[Dave in Dubai]

Hi Lance,

Many thanks for your reply ref to Barker's Snipe.
I have just sent Rowan an e-mail ordering a set of decals for his machine , hence the questions.
I expect you will have seen the same internet pictures of the original fuselage?

Ref the Red Mascot : " Cock-a-snoot"...would be good if one of the aftermarket guys could come up with one of these, although it will be pretty tiny in 1/32 scale.

Some pictures of these can be found on the net, and if you take a look at Kermit Weeks blog, he makes reference to it on his TVAL machine.

The original mascots seem to change hands for sums of money, looking on the bay.
Wonder what happened to the rest of Barker's machine?....maybe lying in a crate somewhere in a long forgotten hanger in Canada?

Thanks for your reply with regards to the colours....do you reckon the struts are also Battleship gray, unlike the TVAL machines?

Kind regards,

Dave

[Dave in Dubai]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tresorsducanada-canadatreasures/4535480611/

Just found this on the internet....metal panels seem very dark.

 

[Trackpad]

My understanding is that the fuselage, currently held in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, was repainted after the war in overall green. For me, the best photo to use as reference for the a/c as it appeared shortly after the VC combat is the one above. It shows the Snipe in a standard finish: PC10, Battleship Grey and CDL, and carrying standard national markings and white fuselage stripes. I have no idea where the red devil got to, and I hope that some enterprising entrepreneur will turn these out in resin for us digitally-challenged modellers! 

Hope this helps!