Enamel paint 389 Dark Earth (Dark Earth) ARCUS 389 MAP Dark Earth Color Guide:
-MAP Dark Earth was introduced in 1938 primarily to camouflage ground-based aircraft of the Air Force Air Force.
Dark Earth, along with Dark Green, were the first colors used in the Temperate Earth camouflage scheme for Royal Air Force aircraft. RAF biplanes painted in this scheme, in addition to Dark Earth and Dark Green, also used their lighter counterparts - Light Earth and Light Earth to camouflage the lower wings of the aircraft.
-MAP Dark Earth has also found its way into the Tropical Land aircraft camo scheme. Beginning in December 1940, it was used to camouflage the upper surfaces of aircraft flying over desert landscapes. This scheme also included a Middle Stone color for the upper surfaces, while the lower surfaces were to be painted Sky or Sky Blue. In July 1941, Dark Earth was mistakenly changed to Dark Green in accordance with AMO A.513/41. However, almost immediately after that, the bug was fixed and the Dark Earth was given back its tropical camouflage.
-In July 1942, the Tropical Land scheme was replaced by the Desert scheme, which featured Dark Land and Middle Stone camouflage instead of Azure Blue.
-Dark Earth was also used to camouflage RAF day and night bombers during WWII. The upper surfaces of Royal Air Force bombers were painted dark earth and dark green, while the undersides were normally painted sky for day bombers and special night for night bombers respectively.
-British aircraft in Temperate Land camouflage supplied to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program retained their original colors, including Dark Earth camouflage patches on the upper surfaces. The insignia on the upper surfaces were usually painted with green color AMT-4 or A-24m.
- US Lend-Lease aircraft were usually painted directly at US aircraft factories in the American analogues of MAP Dark Earth - DuPont 71-009, then DuPont 71-035, which in 1943 was renamed ANA 617 Dark Earth.
-The original MAP Dark Earth color, along with dark green, was also used to camouflage Romanian aircraft at the beginning of World War II. The lower part of these planes was painted sky blue.
-After World War II, MAP Dark Earth was renamed BS 450 Dark Earth and continued to be used to camouflage Royal Air Force aircraft.
-BS 450 Dark Earth was used to camouflage RAF Spitfire FR.XVIII and Tempest VI based in Egypt in 1949. This camouflage in addition to BS 450 also used BS 639 Light Slate Gray to camouflage the upper surfaces, while the lower surfaces were to be painted BS 637 Medium Sea Gray.
-Post-war and modern RAF transport aircraft operated overseas (mainly in the Middle East) used BS 450 Dark Earth for upper surface camouflage in addition to BS 361 Light Stone. Under this scheme, the lower surfaces were to be painted BS 642 Night
