Painting
The Barclay No 8 Scheme – a little bit of the background
An accomplished painter, illustrator, sculptor and jewellery designer, McClelland Barclay had developed a very successful art career. Barclay’s first connection with the Navy came during World War I when he was awarded the Navy Poster Prize by the Committee on National Preparedness, 1917, for his poster “Fill the Breach.” The following year, he worked on Naval camouflage under William Andrew Mackay, Chief of the New York District Emergency Fleet Corporation. He renewed his naval connection on 13 June 1938, when he was appointed Assistant Naval Constructor with the rank of Lieutenant, USNR. In mid-1940, Barclay prepared designs for experimental camouflage for different types of Navy combat aircraft. Evaluation tests, however, showed that pattern camouflage was of little, if any, use for the aircraft.
The No 8 Scheme – From `On Target Special, Wings of the Fleet, US Navy and marine Corps Aircraft 1919 – 1940`
Both the US Army and the US navy attempted various experiments in camouflaging aircraft during the late 1930`s and 1940. One of the Navy`s initiatives in this field was the use of Mr McClelland Barclay`s range of geometric camouflage designs. These were based on bold and contrasting shapes set diagonally to the lies of the aircraft. The intension was to break up the outline and other features against the background which the aircraft may be flying over. As this was predominately water, the colours used concentrated on greys and blues. A range of aircraft types were involved in the experiments, BuNo 0339 and BuNo 0320 were two TBD-1s selected from the USS Saratoga Air Group to participate in the trials. BuNo 0339 was painted according to Barclays Design No 8. This used, what appears to be Dark Blue, Grey Blue, Light Grey and White. All the colours were no reflective and of a temporary, water based nature so that the aircraft could easily be returned to their appropriate markings after the trials. It seems that no surface preparation was made as the starboard side shows extreme wear and flaking of the paints used. Equally the paint was crudely applied, with thick brush marks in evidence, especially on the upper wing surfaces. All markings and insignia were painted over. However, the Sqn codes are partially visible on the starboard side through either wear or thinness of the paint. All under surfaces were painted white with thin dark blue lines angled across the main surfaces.
The trials were conducted over several weeks during the summer of 1940. They included air-combat and anti-aircraft defence scenarios, with both camouflaged and un-camouflaged aircraft operating together. The experiments proved to be inconclusive with both the design and colours being criticised. The final recommendations of the Camouflage Board, who evaluated the tests, was that `…. pending the development of a camouflage design which gives optimum results, all Navy aircraft assigned to military duties are to be painted solid, non-reflective light grey ; the only contrasting colours to be employed being the national insignia and necessary lettering and identification numbers. One positive outcome was the move by the navy to non-reflective paints which would eliminate flashes and the brightness of some colours used.
