Spitfire Seat Color

[RogerP]

What is the best color match for the Bakelite seat used in the Spitfire Mk. Vb?

[LSP_Ron]

The last two builds I've done I've used Humbrol Matt 73 but I can't confirm if this is truly accurate

 

Ron

[Edgar Brooks]

There isn't a truly "correct" colour, since the material could vary, quite substantially, in colour, even on the same seat. It wasn't Bakelite, either (some mandarin, in Whitehall, has a lot to answer for, for using the name,) but a resin/paper (yes, really) mixture, and the colour depended, quite a lot, on how the material was made.

Edgar

[RogerP]

Ron, Edgar

 

Thanks so much for the info...I appreciate it!

[Butler]

That's not a photo of your office chair is it Edgar?

[DrDave]

old suitcases. Think old suitcases

[Edgar Brooks]

That's not a photo of your office chair is it Edgar?

No such luck; it's back inside AR213. Something(s) that might be of interest, though; the metal framework, beside the pilot's right buttock, and behind the raising/lowering lever, is the "holster" for a Very pistol, and the framework on the front is for the cartridges. Normally these would only be seen on Seafires, but AR213 was built by Westland, who specialised in Seafires, so presumably had a seat common to Spitfires and Seafires.

Also, the colour of the armour (and note the 1942 additional armour under the seat - must look after the pilot's crown jewels,) etc., is the original interior green, which we matched to a 2000 Humbrol colour chip of 90 Beige Green, before Hornby modified the formula, and turned it into Sky.

Edgar

P.S. Here's another one, without armour, but same type of colour for the metalwork.

Edited February 1, 2011 by Edgar Brooks

[RogerP]

Edgar,

 

These photos have been great! Thanks so much.

[98Wrangler]

Were all Spitfires equipped with seats made of bakelite?

[Edgar Brooks]

Were all Spitfires equipped with seats made of bakelite?

No, none of them, please let me reiterate, the seats were not bakelite, which is a material that needs high, and even, pressure, plus carefully controlled temperature, which negates the seat, because it's too large. A company, near Duxford, tried to make it, using similar techniques to those for bakelite, but had to admit defeat.

The plastic seat (and it was always known as "plastic" to Supermarine) was totally interchangeable with the metal seat, but not before May, 1940, which is the date when it was finally accepted for use, having had a long litany of failures, from cracking. It's possible that post-war Seafires had only metal seats, since there is a drawing of a Seafire seat, and it specifies the material as duralumin, but that might also have been due to the spruce blocks, set between the seat and the armour, presumably to stop whiplash during catapulted take-offs and arrested landings.

Also post-war, M.U.s were instructed to save all seats, when an airframe was scrapped, for future use, and they did turn up in the Hornet, Meteor, and Vampire, to my certain knowledge.

I have found a reference (but that's all) to another plastic seat; somewhere, in some bombers, there was a "comfort" seat, made by the same company, but I haven't a clue what it looked like, or where it went.

When first mooted, the plastic seat was intended to be exclusively for Castle Bromwich, but the bombing of Eastleigh possibly put paid to that; Westland certainly used them, and the 22/24 had them fitted, so it's feasible to say (guess?) that there were more plastic seats than metal, but no more than that.

Edgar

Edited February 2, 2011 by Edgar Brooks