Calling Spitfire gurus…..

[antonlemmy@yahoo.com]

I need to pick your collective knowledge and experience…..

I’m considering building the Tamiya Spitfire XVI in an Airspeed Silver finish. Does anyone have a good recommendation which MRP color to use and over what color primer?

I am also very reluctant to use the kit decals and would rather paint them (particularly over a silver finish). The blue and red of the roundel colors are different to those on earlier Spits and also seem different to those on later RAF aircraft or is this just my aging eyes? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for the long post !

Edited August 5 by antonlemmy@yahoo.com

[LSP_Kevin]

I don't have any recommendations for MRP colours, but generally, for silver paint finishes such as High Speed Silver, I like to use either Tamiya AS-12 or LP-11.

Kev

[mozart]

MRP do a rather nice silver called "BBS silver", presumably related to the German wheel makers.  The bottle has 017 on the front but MRP-CO16 on the side.  It's a bit brighter than some of their other silvers. I used it in places on my Spitfire prototype over a white MRP primer.  Masks are certainly the way to go but I can't advise you about roundel colour I'm afraid since I'm not familiar with your intended subject.  Can you put up a photo?

[MikeC]

Unless you have a reliable colour photo of your subject, or other trustworthy info, it's safest to assume the roundels were the standard colours. A kit decal sheet without independent verification is not a reliable source.

Edited Friday at 11:29 AM by MikeC

[antonlemmy@yahoo.com]

On 8/7/2026 at 5:58 AM, mozart said:

MRP do a rather nice silver called "BBS silver", presumably related to the German wheel makers.  The bottle has 017 on the front but MRP-CO16 on the side.  It's a bit brighter than some of their other silvers. I used it in places on my Spitfire prototype over a white MRP primer.  Masks are certainly the way to go but I can't advise you about roundel colour I'm afraid since I'm not familiar with your intended subject.  Can you put up a photo?

Thanks…. I’ll look up the MRP color.

i was probably going to do the version in the kit, just using my own masks.

[antonlemmy@yahoo.com]

On 8/7/2026 at 7:27 AM, MikeC said:

Unless you have a reliable colour photo of your subject, or other trustworthy info, it's safest to assume the roundels were the standard colours. A kit decal sheet without independent verification is not a reliable source.

Thanks Mike… that’s what I wasn’t too sure about. I think I’ve got the airspeed silver sorted out. I might just use my own judgement to mix up the roundel colors. I did find some old color photos, but you know how reliable those color renders can be!

Room for some poetic license! 

[dennismcc]

For RAF markings I always use Colourcoats,

Red ACRN22 RAF/FAA Red,

Blue ACRN31 WW2 Roundel Blue Oxford Blue BS2660 6-071,

Yellow ACRN21 RAF/FAA Yellow

For white I use Xtracolor X141 FS17875

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Fenous]

If you go with inbox marking, I have FD AA code and TE 203 serials in Silhouette studio format, not roundels, those I made with circular cutter. Just added them on https://www.scalemodelpaintmasks.com/index.php?/topic/5092-tamiya-132-spitfire-xvi-codes-serials-for-silver-camouflage/

For roundels I eyballed some colors, for silver Alclad II ALC-125 High speed silver was used.