Assuming P-40's had Desert Camo applied once they arrived in theater, would they then not have any stenciling since all the original factory stenciling would be painted over? Or would they then add new stenciling after the desert camo was applied?

My question is based on the something I read somewhere that said P-40's left US factories in US camo (?) or at least not in MTO Desert Camo.

once and aircraft is repainted (almost anywhere) the reapplication of stencils would depend first upon availability of proper stencils and a placement guide.
Next would be; a.) a really spiffy and motivated crew chief, or b.) an anal sq. commander.
This is purely an educated guess.

Ben Parsons

"I'm pullin' for ya. We're all in this together." - Red Green
Of course 1 inch = 4 feet. There are others? .... Why?

The info I had when I did a version of the Kittyhawk III flown by Stocky Edwards (HS B) was that the planes were painted in RAF desert camo by Curtis. A really outstanding model of HS B was done by Brian Cauchi. You can Google that and find his great article. He did not include any stencils, and neither did I. But the photo below may have just a hint of what might be NO STEP on the wing root. If I remember correctly, those planes were rather new at the time the photo was taken.

By Curtiss , They were Repainted at RAF MU If you look carefully at HS*B you will see that the serial number has been masked off and Midstone Overpainted over DG

Cheers
Terry McGrady

nt

There were some USAAF P-40Fs that received an overall sand color. These were over painted OD/NG aircraft and the stenciling was masked stateside at a transfer depot..

The USAAF DE/MS F and Ls were painted or overpainted at the factory, and thus had stenciling applied at the factory. But there were some repaint work in the field and who knows.

RAF P-40B and E were repainted from DG/DE/ Skey Type S Gray to DE/MS/Azure at RAF and SAAF maintenance depots, so stenciling could be applied, not masked.

Later RAF P-40s were factory painted.



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Thought there was only one desert camo, so my bad there, in this case DE/MS/AZ

on a SAAF or technically a RAF P-40E or MkIa circa 1942/1943

Based on your post above, I'd be inclined to say this bird was repainted after delivery to theater and could or could not have stencils. I think I'm going to opt for no stencils.