RV-8 Paint Schemes

     Not long after getting my pre-plans set, I got the three-way drawings out of the back of the binder, scanned them, and then started designing paint schemes using Photoshop.  Of course, being a warbird fan like many other builders, I decided to go with a pseudo-military paint scheme similar to that of a late-war WWII fighter.  My first designs incorporated a military silver base coat, with stars & bars, invasion stripes, a stars & stripes tail design, a checkerboard cowling, flat black non-reflective paint along the top of the nose, and a spiral nose cone.  The interior would be dull dark green, with the instrument panel done in a flat black wrinkle finish.  It would look something like this on the field:

     Although I really like the way this looks, there are two downsides.  First, there are a LOT of RV-8s out there that have similar paint jobs.  Second, doing something like this properly would involve an incredible amount of work, and probably the skills of a professional.  If I wanted to do the job myself (and I do), I'd be much better off going with a much simpler mid-war scheme of olive drab, with a neutral grey belly.  Not only would this be easier, but it would be more realistic than a showy high-gloss paint job, and I wouldn't have to worry so much about flaws and imperfections.  After all, there's a war on; we gotta get these things flying, right?  Here is that version in an airborne illustration:

     Another difference you may have noticed in this second drawing is the elimination of the carb scoop on the bottom of the cowling, since my aircraft will probably be fuel injected and use a different air source, as I've seen done on others.  I might put a spiral on the nose cone, or maybe paint it red.  Pardon the ridiculous looking pilot... but I'm not that great of a graphic artist... especially using Photoshop.  You may have noticed my nose art... here's a close-up view:

     I'd have to hire out to get this done right... as well as some more cool details I've seen on RVs, such as exhaust stacks and gun ports.  I'm pretty sure I'll finish the paint before the first flight... that's something else I'll want to research.  Some builders finish the paint before they fly, so that the aircraft weight/balance and control surface balancing are dialed in.  Others fly now and paint later.  In any case, that part of the project is a LONG ways off at this point... I'll paint that bridge when I come to it.
(design graphics copyright Clownbreath Industries 2013)