http://www.aussiemodeller.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5457&start=0
• A58-482, TS-V.
o This aircraft was NOT on the original strength of 548 Squadron.
o It was delivered from 1 AD to 14 ARD/RP as a reserve aircraft in July 1944.
o As it was not with 548 Squadron in the NEA in May, it was not stripped back to natural metal at that time. It would have still been finished in its original RAF Desert Scheme when delivered to 14 ARD.
o In early August it was sent to 548 Squadron with six other aircraft as replacements for aircraft lost in June and July.
o Shortly after they received it, 548 Squadron sent it to 7 RSU for a paint job. 7 RSU notes it as having been received for ‘repaint’ on 9 August. It was back with 548 Squadron before the end of August.
o It is interesting to note the nomenclature used by 7 RSU. For A58-482, -446, -451 and -453, all replacement aircraft from 14 ARD, the job is described as a ‘repaint’. For all the natural metal aircraft that 7 RSU painted, the job is described as a ‘camouflage’. I believe that this nomenclature is not accidental: ‘repaint’ indicating that the aircraft were already painted but required a change in colours and, ‘camouflage’ indicating that paint was applied to an unpainted aircraft.
o A58-482 emerged from the paint shop with its desert colours now covered by a new coat of RAAF Foliage Green over Sky Blue. It was coded TS-M and became the aircraft of the CO, S/L R.A. Watts.
o On 25 October it featured in a photograph of the squadron’s pilots in front of the first eleven camouflaged aircraft.
o On 29 October it was back at 7 RSU for the fitment of two extra cannon. This work was completed in December. A58-431, the Wing Leader’s aircraft was also fitted with two extra cannon at this time. It is unclear as to how long the aircraft retained these extra cannon.
o On 14 February 1945, F/L Glaser was promoted to Squadron Leader and took over command of 548 Squadron. He ‘inherited’ A58-482 from S/L Watts.
o Not long after this he had the aircraft repainted and the code was changed to TS-V. The exact date is unknown but it was certainly done before 16 April 1945when the aircraft appeared in a series of PR photos taken on that day.
o Wallis in his articles mentioned above quotes Glaser as saying that Glaser and his fitters stripped back the RAAF paint to reveal the original RAF camouflage scheme of Dark Green / Ocean Grey / Medium Sea Grey. I reject this on two counts: first it would be virtually impossible to strip off the RAAF paint and leave the original RAF paint untouched; second I believe that JG655 was originally painted in the RAF Desert Scheme, not the Day Fighter Scheme.
o I believe that Glaser may have been inspired by the later Spitfire VIIIs, (MD, MT, MV series), that were arriving in Australia at that time and had his aircraft painted to match those. What colours were used is open to interpretation. The green was probably RAAF Foliage Green and the RAAF did have a Medium Sea grey on its books. As the RAAF did not have an equivalent of Ocean Grey, the upper surface grey may have been a mixed grey or possibly RAAF Dark Sea Grey.
o In his article Wallis quotes Glaser as saying that the spinner, cannon barrel fairings and stubs, were painted in a medium to light blue, a colour mixed by the G/crew. He further states that the rear fuselage band was Sky and the codes White with black edging. To me it looks as if the codes were RAAF Sky Blue and the fuselage band White, (the RAAF didn’t have Sky anyway). In the light of Glaser’s assertions about how he ‘discovered’ the original paint, I’ll leave it up to you to decide about the cannon and spinner colours.