[Epapazian]

I've been doing a bit of research on the paint scheme for Italy's "Falcos" that participated in the Battle Of Britain. For years, every reference I've seen claimed that their upper surfaces were a base of yellow ochre mottled with green and red brown. The undersides are invariably described as light gray/blue, which , in appearance is mostly light gray. The use of this "desert" scheme always perplexed me. Why would the Italians use such a conspicuous motif for a northern European battle zone?

Recently, I came across a description of a crashed Fiat Cr.42 by an RAF observer, who actually looked at the plane, close up. He stated that the upper surfaces had a base of muddy brown, with an overlay of green blotches. As for the undersides, they were covered with silver dope---a common practice for fabric colored aircraft at the time----not light gray.

Although the ochre/green/red brown over light gray scheme was a "standard" Italian factory finish at the time for Fiat fighters, various authors, kit-makers and artists, have assumed that all of the Italian fighters that flew against the RAF during the Battle Of Britain used these colors, apparently disregarding what the British observers actually reported.

So, I decided to do a Fiat Cr.42, using one of my special solid resin castings, in the scheme described by the RAF officer, who examined one of these planes in detail. I chose light chestnut for the underlying brown with green blotching and silver dope for the undersides. Here's how it came out:

[Cruver Collecter]

Neat looking paint scheme on the Cr 42. Have you ever read The Chianti Raiders by Peter Hainig? Pretty interesting book covering the Italian operations during the Battle of Britain.

[Captain Eddie]

Looks GREAT, Epapazian.

[johnnyboy]

This link shows the Fiat Cr 42 that was captured during the Battle of Britain which now resides in the RAF Museum at Hendon
Fiat CR42 Falco airplane pictures & aircraft photos - RAF Museums

[Epapazian]

If anyone is interested, I ran across this interesting review via Google a while back: "A Re-evaluation of Regia Aeronautica Camouflage 1940" by Steven Modeldad Eisenman. He challenges the validity of the Fiat scheme on display at Hendon and does a real number on an "expert" author's book rergarding Italian aircraft camouflage.