PC10 etc

[GrahamB]

Hi,

this is a quick summary of published Methuen values for British PC10 and similar finishes. They are gleaned from various articles by Ian Huntley, Ian Baker (also using Huntley and Rimell) and Ray Rimell. It is not comprehensive and I'm making no comments about the validity or not of these matches - I'm merely passing them on. I have added scans of the three Methuen hues, 3-5, that cover most of the colours, but this is only for comparative purposes as they do not scan well. Essentially, hue 3 is a yellow-olive range, moving through to hue 5 that is a brown olive. They can look very similar and can be difficult to match at the darker end of the scale. Most of the PC10 values fall in hue 4, moving towards 5 in later examples. The PC12 value is a genuine match by Ray Rimell, whereas the 'PC12' refer to the reddish primer/tropical coating. Some early Dyed Varnish values are included that are going to be useful for early BE2s and Avro 504s -assuming they are going to appear from WNW - yes please!) plus the proprietary khakis used on RNAS aircraft - tending more greenish, hue 3, than the RFC PC10 range.

The rgb values are derived from Resene colour cards carefully matched to the Methuen chips but there is some room for error here and some might need adjusting. I have copies of the table with RGB chips attached if anyone wants one - send PM). There was an extensive thread on the Aerodrome that covered these and many German colours.

I'll offer some model paint matches and other comments about similar German colours that belong in the Methuen 3-5 range later. Others might like to contribute their opinions so that we could build up a decent resource - WNW offer Tamiya, Humbrol and Misterkit matches for instance. The inclusion of the basic yellow hues will also allow keen types to make their own brews by adding black or neutral greys, or adding spots of yellow to same (for the unsaturated colours).

When reading the Methuen values in the table some prefixes may indicate 3-4 or 4-5 - this implies that the hue falls somewhere between the two. Similarly for saturation intensity values (number suffix) and tone (letter). Values F-G or G imply a darker colour than those offered on the Methuen page (an imaginary column G on the right).

Please note that presentation on screen may differ from the original since file conversion protocols seem to change hues.
I hope this is of some help.

Cheers,

Graham

[Pup Cam]

Thanks for that very useful indeed.

Alan

[bobs_buckles]

Hi Graham,
 Thanks for doing this.
I'm sure I can come up with a brew befitting my wee Puppy.

Cheers,
Bob   

[Nigel Jackson]

Thanks, Graham, for your hard work in putting this together. I find the whole subject fascinating.

Best wishes
Nigel

[Alexis]

Thank you very much Graham for putting this together .





Terri

[ALBATROS1234]

thanks for the chart. i recently saw a documentary where a ww1 british ace was talking about the german flying circus with all the colors and stated that the british had the regulation "dark green grey"

[GrahamB]

Hi Scott - and great profile of yours.

Yes, some of the 'worn' matches given in the chart (in F2-4 range) are quite dull and grey - F2 with barely any olive to speak of. I would say that the 3 hue and 4 hue look greenish - the latter more 'olive drab' though. 4-5 and 5 are brownish. I think the image colours in the post are very decent and close to the printed versions and I only put up the disclaimer about matching from them for caution.

I've been preoccupied with other things of late and haven't put up some paint matches as promised. I could do some Methuens for the DFW C.V based on Dan-San and other (Windsock) matches although most of these can be found in the Aerodrome thread. The DFW green found on two DFW aircraft fabrics (IWM) are really quite odd bluish-green colours, with only Humbrol 88 coming anywhere close (of those paints I have).

Cheers,

Graham

[ALBATROS1234]

thanks again, and yes some of those old aerodrome threads are a wealth of knowledge.there were some dsa stickys on german colors and markings. i dont know how much i can access anymore i was banned back then for speaking my mind. this was back before the 1st great schism and creation of the now defunct gwia forum.