Greif8

Gary I know you did not ask for the following info so please disregard if you think it is not useful.  Also this topic has probably been covered in some detail earlier on the forum, so again, please disregard anything I write below if you already know the information. 
 
I won't bore you or anyone else with all the details, but one of the capstone papers I wrote for my undergraduate degree covered the development and functioning of Great Britain's air defense system; and during my research I dug out the information below.
 
The undersides of both Spitfires and Hurricanes went through several changes to their paint schemes and the mid-production version that the kit represents could have had any of the different schemes in effect during WWII.   As an aircraft recognition measure British fighter undersides were very frequently painted with the port wing black (actually a very dark grey probably similiar to something like Tamiya's NATO Black) and the starboard wing painted white with the colors meeting at the centerline.  A great many (majority) of the Spitfires and Hurricanes had this scheme from outbreak of the war through early June 1940.  From early June the Air Ministry ordered that the undersides of fighter aircraft would be painted Sky Type S.  Like nearly everything for all combatants during WWII there was a time lag between a directive being issued and it being implemented fully - or mostly implemented.  In this case a lack of enough Sky Type S until sometime after mid-August 1940 led to a great variety in color tones as units often mixed their own versions of Sky.  Tones varied from more grey towards more blue and everything in between.  By the way the "S" in the color designation stands for "Smooth"; as the rough texture of the original camo paints caused drag through air resistance due to their slightly rough texture. 
 
As the Battle of Britain ended, many within Fighter Command recommended a return to the earlier black/white scheme as it was found to be very useful for air recognition.  The usefulness of this measure was not universally embraced and it was decided that due to the massive amount of work required to repaint the undersurfaces of all fighter aircraft that only the port wing would be painted black.  A type of coating similiar to the whitewash many of use are familiar with for armored vehicles that are modelled in a winter setting, called a DTD 441 standard, was used.  This could be fairly easily removed using hot water leaving the original paint underneath intact. 
 
Many fighters, but undoubtly not all of them, had their port wings painted a black tone with the above mix sometime during the fall months of 1940.   In early April 1941 yet another Air Ministry directive was issued ordering that the black would be removed from all fighters by the middle of the month, though that very likely took a bit longer to make the change for all fighters.   By the time the RAF began its own offensive operations over Western Europe in the May/June 1941 time frame the vast majority of its fighters had Sky colored undersides. 
 
As to the silver undercarriage, that is just as accurate as any (IMHO).  Undercarriages could have been painted, repainted or left natural metal on an aircraft for a variety of reasons at different times during its service life. 
 
TMI I know Gary, but I hope you get something useful out of the above.
 
Ernest            

Gary I know you did not ask for the following info so please disregard if you think it is not useful.  Also this topic has probably been covered in some detail earlier on the forum, so again, please disregard anything I write below if you already know the information. 
 
I won't bore you or anyone else with all the details, but one of the capstone papers I wrote for my undergraduate degree covered the development and functioning of Great Britain's air defense system; and during my research I dug out the information below.
 
The undersides of both Spitfires and Hurricanes went through several changes to their paint schemes and the mid-production version that the kit represents could have had any of the different schemes in effect during WWII.   As an aircraft recognition measure British fighter undersides were very frequently painted with the port wing black (actually a very dark grey probably similiar to something like Tamiya's NATO Black) and the starboard wing painted white with the colors meeting at the centerline.  A great many (majority) of the Spitfires and Hurricanes had this scheme from outbreak of the war through early June 1940.  From early June the Air Ministry ordered that the undersides of fighter aircraft would be painted Sky Type S.  Like nearly everything for all combatants during WWII there was a time lag between a directive being issued and it being implemented fully - or mostly implemented.  In this case a lack of enough Sky Type S until sometime after mid-August 1940 led to a great variety in color tones as units often mixed their own versions of Sky.  Tones varied from more grey towards more blue and everything in between.  By the way the "S" in the color designation stands for "Smooth"; as the rough texture of the original camo paints caused drag through air resistance due to their slightly rough texture. 
 
As the Battle of Britain ended, many within Fighter Command recommended a return to the earlier black/white scheme as it was found to be very useful for air recognition.  The usefulness of this measure was not universally embraced and it was decided that due to the massive amount of work required to repaint the undersurfaces of all fighter aircraft that only the port wing would be painted black.  A type of coating similiar to the whitewash many of use are familiar with for armored vehicles that are modelled in a winter setting, called a DTD 441 standard, was used.  This could be fairly easily removed using hot water leaving the original paint underneath intact. 
 
Many fighters, but undoubtly not all of them, had their port wings painted a black tone with the above mix sometime during the fall months of 1940.   In early April 1941 yet another Air Ministry directive was issued ordering that the black would be removed from all fighters by the middle of the month, though that very likely took a bit longer to make the change for all fighters.   By the time the RAF began its own offensive operations over Western Europe in the May/June 1941 time frame the vast majority of its fighters had Sky colored undersides. 
 
As to the silver undercarriage, that is just as accurate as any (IMHO).  Undercarriages could have been painted, repainted or left natural metal on an aircraft for a variety of reasons at different times during its service life. 
 
TMI I know Gary, but I hope you get something useful out of the above.
 
Ernest            

Hi Joachim, I think the ignition harness / and the rest of the engine looks great.  I find that the Tamiya metal primer works pretty well.  
 
As an aside I rode on my gravel bike today and got caught in one of the damn small storm cells that began passing through in the early afternoon.  The last 25 kms of the ride was unpleasent to say the least.  I will be glad when spring finally arrives for good!
 
Ernest

This looks magnificent Niels!  I am looking forward to the RFI photos.  Top work!
 
Ernest

The underside 'black' (and spinners) was actually called 'Night' and was carbon black with ultramarine blue pigments. Night fighters and bomber undersides were  painted Special Night which was carbon black with larger pigments giving it a much more matt appearance with 2 problems. Induced more drag and came off easily. It remained the  official night fighter color until 1942.
Don't 'ya love these rabbit holes ? ...
 
                 
 

Gary I know you did not ask for the following info so please disregard if you think it is not useful.  Also this topic has probably been covered in some detail earlier on the forum, so again, please disregard anything I write below if you already know the information. 
 
I won't bore you or anyone else with all the details, but one of the capstone papers I wrote for my undergraduate degree covered the development and functioning of Great Britain's air defense system; and during my research I dug out the information below.
 
The undersides of both Spitfires and Hurricanes went through several changes to their paint schemes and the mid-production version that the kit represents could have had any of the different schemes in effect during WWII.   As an aircraft recognition measure British fighter undersides were very frequently painted with the port wing black (actually a very dark grey probably similiar to something like Tamiya's NATO Black) and the starboard wing painted white with the colors meeting at the centerline.  A great many (majority) of the Spitfires and Hurricanes had this scheme from outbreak of the war through early June 1940.  From early June the Air Ministry ordered that the undersides of fighter aircraft would be painted Sky Type S.  Like nearly everything for all combatants during WWII there was a time lag between a directive being issued and it being implemented fully - or mostly implemented.  In this case a lack of enough Sky Type S until sometime after mid-August 1940 led to a great variety in color tones as units often mixed their own versions of Sky.  Tones varied from more grey towards more blue and everything in between.  By the way the "S" in the color designation stands for "Smooth"; as the rough texture of the original camo paints caused drag through air resistance due to their slightly rough texture. 
 
As the Battle of Britain ended, many within Fighter Command recommended a return to the earlier black/white scheme as it was found to be very useful for air recognition.  The usefulness of this measure was not universally embraced and it was decided that due to the massive amount of work required to repaint the undersurfaces of all fighter aircraft that only the port wing would be painted black.  A type of coating similiar to the whitewash many of use are familiar with for armored vehicles that are modelled in a winter setting, called a DTD 441 standard, was used.  This could be fairly easily removed using hot water leaving the original paint underneath intact. 
 
Many fighters, but undoubtly not all of them, had their port wings painted a black tone with the above mix sometime during the fall months of 1940.   In early April 1941 yet another Air Ministry directive was issued ordering that the black would be removed from all fighters by the middle of the month, though that very likely took a bit longer to make the change for all fighters.   By the time the RAF began its own offensive operations over Western Europe in the May/June 1941 time frame the vast majority of its fighters had Sky colored undersides. 
 
As to the silver undercarriage, that is just as accurate as any (IMHO).  Undercarriages could have been painted, repainted or left natural metal on an aircraft for a variety of reasons at different times during its service life. 
 
TMI I know Gary, but I hope you get something useful out of the above.
 
Ernest            

Beautiful build and great diorama setting Kent.  I think it is fine to build at your own pace to keep the Mojo level up.  
 
Ernest

The finished Sopwith Baby... (Lukgraph resin kit with some alterations)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Thanks for looking:
 
Cheers: Kent...
 
 

Yeah, that’s too much effort for me Denis. Super glue is my go to filler.
it’s fast and easy.
 
Of course it behaves differently and a little care must be taken when scribing.
 
Another reason I like it is that the low spots present themselves as shiny cured super glue that you can observe at an oblique angle. Once all the shiny is gone you should be level!

Getting closer....
 
Just finishing up the cockpit. Got those nice Sparkit ejection seats painted up and test fitted one last time. I am working on the canopy frames using the Eduard set (and some wiring between the seats) and the remaining paintwork on the weapons and that will be it. Last thing will be to install all weapons, airbrakes, antennas and undercarriage parts and that should not take long. I am aiming to put her in the photo booth next weekend so keep an eye out for the RFI post soon   
 
 

 
/Niels

I kept the mojo going strong today despite the beautiful weather here in Cincinnati. If my son didn't have my car right now I would have definitely been outside. Aren't you guys lucky, I put some real color on Umegumi this afternoon. Here's how it progressed...
 
These masks are a full sheet of paper so using recycled backing paper from other masks comes in handy. this keeps stray parts from sticking to the model where they aren't wanted ;-)
 
Because of the contours of the engines it was important to do initial placement right down the center and then slowly work the mask around and across al the different contours. the dot is the center of the lotus flower and i sketched in the arc across the top to help with alignment.
 
 
Tamiya fine Pink primer
 
This is Chestnut Brown from my 23 window VW Bus build. It's almost black in certain lights so it seemed perfect.
 
And the money shot!
 
Just a few touchups to do really. Quite successful given how complicated this design is!
 
 
The air brake is just sitting in there now to complete the picture. It will of course be deployed on the finished model. What a fun day. Finally seeing how this will look has been exciting. Going to be a busy week but next week I'm on vacation so expect to see some good stuff by then :-)
 
 

What's worse are the individuals who have recently bought WnW's kits from Hannants, then listed them for considerably more than paid, heartening to see them without bids.
 
ps. Good to see you back Dean.

They are going to announce that they bought the Wingnutwings moulds...

Gary I know you did not ask for the following info so please disregard if you think it is not useful.  Also this topic has probably been covered in some detail earlier on the forum, so again, please disregard anything I write below if you already know the information. 
 
I won't bore you or anyone else with all the details, but one of the capstone papers I wrote for my undergraduate degree covered the development and functioning of Great Britain's air defense system; and during my research I dug out the information below.
 
The undersides of both Spitfires and Hurricanes went through several changes to their paint schemes and the mid-production version that the kit represents could have had any of the different schemes in effect during WWII.   As an aircraft recognition measure British fighter undersides were very frequently painted with the port wing black (actually a very dark grey probably similiar to something like Tamiya's NATO Black) and the starboard wing painted white with the colors meeting at the centerline.  A great many (majority) of the Spitfires and Hurricanes had this scheme from outbreak of the war through early June 1940.  From early June the Air Ministry ordered that the undersides of fighter aircraft would be painted Sky Type S.  Like nearly everything for all combatants during WWII there was a time lag between a directive being issued and it being implemented fully - or mostly implemented.  In this case a lack of enough Sky Type S until sometime after mid-August 1940 led to a great variety in color tones as units often mixed their own versions of Sky.  Tones varied from more grey towards more blue and everything in between.  By the way the "S" in the color designation stands for "Smooth"; as the rough texture of the original camo paints caused drag through air resistance due to their slightly rough texture. 
 
As the Battle of Britain ended, many within Fighter Command recommended a return to the earlier black/white scheme as it was found to be very useful for air recognition.  The usefulness of this measure was not universally embraced and it was decided that due to the massive amount of work required to repaint the undersurfaces of all fighter aircraft that only the port wing would be painted black.  A type of coating similiar to the whitewash many of use are familiar with for armored vehicles that are modelled in a winter setting, called a DTD 441 standard, was used.  This could be fairly easily removed using hot water leaving the original paint underneath intact. 
 
Many fighters, but undoubtly not all of them, had their port wings painted a black tone with the above mix sometime during the fall months of 1940.   In early April 1941 yet another Air Ministry directive was issued ordering that the black would be removed from all fighters by the middle of the month, though that very likely took a bit longer to make the change for all fighters.   By the time the RAF began its own offensive operations over Western Europe in the May/June 1941 time frame the vast majority of its fighters had Sky colored undersides. 
 
As to the silver undercarriage, that is just as accurate as any (IMHO).  Undercarriages could have been painted, repainted or left natural metal on an aircraft for a variety of reasons at different times during its service life. 
 
TMI I know Gary, but I hope you get something useful out of the above.
 
Ernest            

Gary I know you did not ask for the following info so please disregard if you think it is not useful.  Also this topic has probably been covered in some detail earlier on the forum, so again, please disregard anything I write below if you already know the information. 
 
I won't bore you or anyone else with all the details, but one of the capstone papers I wrote for my undergraduate degree covered the development and functioning of Great Britain's air defense system; and during my research I dug out the information below.
 
The undersides of both Spitfires and Hurricanes went through several changes to their paint schemes and the mid-production version that the kit represents could have had any of the different schemes in effect during WWII.   As an aircraft recognition measure British fighter undersides were very frequently painted with the port wing black (actually a very dark grey probably similiar to something like Tamiya's NATO Black) and the starboard wing painted white with the colors meeting at the centerline.  A great many (majority) of the Spitfires and Hurricanes had this scheme from outbreak of the war through early June 1940.  From early June the Air Ministry ordered that the undersides of fighter aircraft would be painted Sky Type S.  Like nearly everything for all combatants during WWII there was a time lag between a directive being issued and it being implemented fully - or mostly implemented.  In this case a lack of enough Sky Type S until sometime after mid-August 1940 led to a great variety in color tones as units often mixed their own versions of Sky.  Tones varied from more grey towards more blue and everything in between.  By the way the "S" in the color designation stands for "Smooth"; as the rough texture of the original camo paints caused drag through air resistance due to their slightly rough texture. 
 
As the Battle of Britain ended, many within Fighter Command recommended a return to the earlier black/white scheme as it was found to be very useful for air recognition.  The usefulness of this measure was not universally embraced and it was decided that due to the massive amount of work required to repaint the undersurfaces of all fighter aircraft that only the port wing would be painted black.  A type of coating similiar to the whitewash many of use are familiar with for armored vehicles that are modelled in a winter setting, called a DTD 441 standard, was used.  This could be fairly easily removed using hot water leaving the original paint underneath intact. 
 
Many fighters, but undoubtly not all of them, had their port wings painted a black tone with the above mix sometime during the fall months of 1940.   In early April 1941 yet another Air Ministry directive was issued ordering that the black would be removed from all fighters by the middle of the month, though that very likely took a bit longer to make the change for all fighters.   By the time the RAF began its own offensive operations over Western Europe in the May/June 1941 time frame the vast majority of its fighters had Sky colored undersides. 
 
As to the silver undercarriage, that is just as accurate as any (IMHO).  Undercarriages could have been painted, repainted or left natural metal on an aircraft for a variety of reasons at different times during its service life. 
 
TMI I know Gary, but I hope you get something useful out of the above.
 
Ernest            

Dang, that is some top work Jay!  Great perserverence dealing with the paint lifting as well.
 
Ernest

Gary I know you did not ask for the following info so please disregard if you think it is not useful.  Also this topic has probably been covered in some detail earlier on the forum, so again, please disregard anything I write below if you already know the information. 
 
I won't bore you or anyone else with all the details, but one of the capstone papers I wrote for my undergraduate degree covered the development and functioning of Great Britain's air defense system; and during my research I dug out the information below.
 
The undersides of both Spitfires and Hurricanes went through several changes to their paint schemes and the mid-production version that the kit represents could have had any of the different schemes in effect during WWII.   As an aircraft recognition measure British fighter undersides were very frequently painted with the port wing black (actually a very dark grey probably similiar to something like Tamiya's NATO Black) and the starboard wing painted white with the colors meeting at the centerline.  A great many (majority) of the Spitfires and Hurricanes had this scheme from outbreak of the war through early June 1940.  From early June the Air Ministry ordered that the undersides of fighter aircraft would be painted Sky Type S.  Like nearly everything for all combatants during WWII there was a time lag between a directive being issued and it being implemented fully - or mostly implemented.  In this case a lack of enough Sky Type S until sometime after mid-August 1940 led to a great variety in color tones as units often mixed their own versions of Sky.  Tones varied from more grey towards more blue and everything in between.  By the way the "S" in the color designation stands for "Smooth"; as the rough texture of the original camo paints caused drag through air resistance due to their slightly rough texture. 
 
As the Battle of Britain ended, many within Fighter Command recommended a return to the earlier black/white scheme as it was found to be very useful for air recognition.  The usefulness of this measure was not universally embraced and it was decided that due to the massive amount of work required to repaint the undersurfaces of all fighter aircraft that only the port wing would be painted black.  A type of coating similiar to the whitewash many of use are familiar with for armored vehicles that are modelled in a winter setting, called a DTD 441 standard, was used.  This could be fairly easily removed using hot water leaving the original paint underneath intact. 
 
Many fighters, but undoubtly not all of them, had their port wings painted a black tone with the above mix sometime during the fall months of 1940.   In early April 1941 yet another Air Ministry directive was issued ordering that the black would be removed from all fighters by the middle of the month, though that very likely took a bit longer to make the change for all fighters.   By the time the RAF began its own offensive operations over Western Europe in the May/June 1941 time frame the vast majority of its fighters had Sky colored undersides. 
 
As to the silver undercarriage, that is just as accurate as any (IMHO).  Undercarriages could have been painted, repainted or left natural metal on an aircraft for a variety of reasons at different times during its service life. 
 
TMI I know Gary, but I hope you get something useful out of the above.
 
Ernest            

I think the squiggles look quite nice Tolga.  I agree with Kevin that you are skilled with an airbrush; it is tough to get the density the same and to avoid making the squiggles too fat or too thin on the ends of them, but you did so brilliantly.
 
Ernest

Gary I know you did not ask for the following info so please disregard if you think it is not useful.  Also this topic has probably been covered in some detail earlier on the forum, so again, please disregard anything I write below if you already know the information. 
 
I won't bore you or anyone else with all the details, but one of the capstone papers I wrote for my undergraduate degree covered the development and functioning of Great Britain's air defense system; and during my research I dug out the information below.
 
The undersides of both Spitfires and Hurricanes went through several changes to their paint schemes and the mid-production version that the kit represents could have had any of the different schemes in effect during WWII.   As an aircraft recognition measure British fighter undersides were very frequently painted with the port wing black (actually a very dark grey probably similiar to something like Tamiya's NATO Black) and the starboard wing painted white with the colors meeting at the centerline.  A great many (majority) of the Spitfires and Hurricanes had this scheme from outbreak of the war through early June 1940.  From early June the Air Ministry ordered that the undersides of fighter aircraft would be painted Sky Type S.  Like nearly everything for all combatants during WWII there was a time lag between a directive being issued and it being implemented fully - or mostly implemented.  In this case a lack of enough Sky Type S until sometime after mid-August 1940 led to a great variety in color tones as units often mixed their own versions of Sky.  Tones varied from more grey towards more blue and everything in between.  By the way the "S" in the color designation stands for "Smooth"; as the rough texture of the original camo paints caused drag through air resistance due to their slightly rough texture. 
 
As the Battle of Britain ended, many within Fighter Command recommended a return to the earlier black/white scheme as it was found to be very useful for air recognition.  The usefulness of this measure was not universally embraced and it was decided that due to the massive amount of work required to repaint the undersurfaces of all fighter aircraft that only the port wing would be painted black.  A type of coating similiar to the whitewash many of use are familiar with for armored vehicles that are modelled in a winter setting, called a DTD 441 standard, was used.  This could be fairly easily removed using hot water leaving the original paint underneath intact. 
 
Many fighters, but undoubtly not all of them, had their port wings painted a black tone with the above mix sometime during the fall months of 1940.   In early April 1941 yet another Air Ministry directive was issued ordering that the black would be removed from all fighters by the middle of the month, though that very likely took a bit longer to make the change for all fighters.   By the time the RAF began its own offensive operations over Western Europe in the May/June 1941 time frame the vast majority of its fighters had Sky colored undersides. 
 
As to the silver undercarriage, that is just as accurate as any (IMHO).  Undercarriages could have been painted, repainted or left natural metal on an aircraft for a variety of reasons at different times during its service life. 
 
TMI I know Gary, but I hope you get something useful out of the above.
 
Ernest            

Gary I know you did not ask for the following info so please disregard if you think it is not useful.  Also this topic has probably been covered in some detail earlier on the forum, so again, please disregard anything I write below if you already know the information. 
 
I won't bore you or anyone else with all the details, but one of the capstone papers I wrote for my undergraduate degree covered the development and functioning of Great Britain's air defense system; and during my research I dug out the information below.
 
The undersides of both Spitfires and Hurricanes went through several changes to their paint schemes and the mid-production version that the kit represents could have had any of the different schemes in effect during WWII.   As an aircraft recognition measure British fighter undersides were very frequently painted with the port wing black (actually a very dark grey probably similiar to something like Tamiya's NATO Black) and the starboard wing painted white with the colors meeting at the centerline.  A great many (majority) of the Spitfires and Hurricanes had this scheme from outbreak of the war through early June 1940.  From early June the Air Ministry ordered that the undersides of fighter aircraft would be painted Sky Type S.  Like nearly everything for all combatants during WWII there was a time lag between a directive being issued and it being implemented fully - or mostly implemented.  In this case a lack of enough Sky Type S until sometime after mid-August 1940 led to a great variety in color tones as units often mixed their own versions of Sky.  Tones varied from more grey towards more blue and everything in between.  By the way the "S" in the color designation stands for "Smooth"; as the rough texture of the original camo paints caused drag through air resistance due to their slightly rough texture. 
 
As the Battle of Britain ended, many within Fighter Command recommended a return to the earlier black/white scheme as it was found to be very useful for air recognition.  The usefulness of this measure was not universally embraced and it was decided that due to the massive amount of work required to repaint the undersurfaces of all fighter aircraft that only the port wing would be painted black.  A type of coating similiar to the whitewash many of use are familiar with for armored vehicles that are modelled in a winter setting, called a DTD 441 standard, was used.  This could be fairly easily removed using hot water leaving the original paint underneath intact. 
 
Many fighters, but undoubtly not all of them, had their port wings painted a black tone with the above mix sometime during the fall months of 1940.   In early April 1941 yet another Air Ministry directive was issued ordering that the black would be removed from all fighters by the middle of the month, though that very likely took a bit longer to make the change for all fighters.   By the time the RAF began its own offensive operations over Western Europe in the May/June 1941 time frame the vast majority of its fighters had Sky colored undersides. 
 
As to the silver undercarriage, that is just as accurate as any (IMHO).  Undercarriages could have been painted, repainted or left natural metal on an aircraft for a variety of reasons at different times during its service life. 
 
TMI I know Gary, but I hope you get something useful out of the above.
 
Ernest            

Gary I know you did not ask for the following info so please disregard if you think it is not useful.  Also this topic has probably been covered in some detail earlier on the forum, so again, please disregard anything I write below if you already know the information. 
 
I won't bore you or anyone else with all the details, but one of the capstone papers I wrote for my undergraduate degree covered the development and functioning of Great Britain's air defense system; and during my research I dug out the information below.
 
The undersides of both Spitfires and Hurricanes went through several changes to their paint schemes and the mid-production version that the kit represents could have had any of the different schemes in effect during WWII.   As an aircraft recognition measure British fighter undersides were very frequently painted with the port wing black (actually a very dark grey probably similiar to something like Tamiya's NATO Black) and the starboard wing painted white with the colors meeting at the centerline.  A great many (majority) of the Spitfires and Hurricanes had this scheme from outbreak of the war through early June 1940.  From early June the Air Ministry ordered that the undersides of fighter aircraft would be painted Sky Type S.  Like nearly everything for all combatants during WWII there was a time lag between a directive being issued and it being implemented fully - or mostly implemented.  In this case a lack of enough Sky Type S until sometime after mid-August 1940 led to a great variety in color tones as units often mixed their own versions of Sky.  Tones varied from more grey towards more blue and everything in between.  By the way the "S" in the color designation stands for "Smooth"; as the rough texture of the original camo paints caused drag through air resistance due to their slightly rough texture. 
 
As the Battle of Britain ended, many within Fighter Command recommended a return to the earlier black/white scheme as it was found to be very useful for air recognition.  The usefulness of this measure was not universally embraced and it was decided that due to the massive amount of work required to repaint the undersurfaces of all fighter aircraft that only the port wing would be painted black.  A type of coating similiar to the whitewash many of use are familiar with for armored vehicles that are modelled in a winter setting, called a DTD 441 standard, was used.  This could be fairly easily removed using hot water leaving the original paint underneath intact. 
 
Many fighters, but undoubtly not all of them, had their port wings painted a black tone with the above mix sometime during the fall months of 1940.   In early April 1941 yet another Air Ministry directive was issued ordering that the black would be removed from all fighters by the middle of the month, though that very likely took a bit longer to make the change for all fighters.   By the time the RAF began its own offensive operations over Western Europe in the May/June 1941 time frame the vast majority of its fighters had Sky colored undersides. 
 
As to the silver undercarriage, that is just as accurate as any (IMHO).  Undercarriages could have been painted, repainted or left natural metal on an aircraft for a variety of reasons at different times during its service life. 
 
TMI I know Gary, but I hope you get something useful out of the above.
 
Ernest            

Not doing an in-box version, buddy.   And thanks for the info on Iconel alloy.

Looking good Gary.  The fits seems to be quite nice and you are certainly doing the kit justice!
 
Ernest

I usually go there just to look at pictures of models and classic cars.
Don't forget Yootoob. I've learned more there and picked up some cool
and useful tips on modeling.  I've fixed plumbing issues, fixed my garage
door opener, swapped out the driver side window regulator on my Jeep,
things that would have been a PITA without the help of people who've
already done what I need to do. Talk about seperating the wheat from
the chaff John,  that's been the case re the internet since day one.

Sprue G is ready
 

 
As is sprue H
 

 
and apparently "There will be a lot of good news next week, stay tuned"