NIVO

NIVO, abbreviated from Night Invisible Varnish Orfordness (or "Night Varnish Orfordness"),[4] was a dark grey-green overall finish applied to British night bomber aircraft in the inter-war period (1918-1939).

NIVO-finished Vickers Vimy F8614 at the RAF Museum London

NIVO
 
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#414C41
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(65, 76, 65)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)(15, 0, 15, 70)
HSV       (h, s, v)(120°, 14.5%, 29.8%)
SourceMethuen 29F2[1]
FED-STD-595 colour FS:34096[2] Converted using sRGB (65, 76, 65)[3]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Developed in 1918 by the experimental station at Orfordness, as a low-visibility colouring for the Royal Air Force it had a sheen to match that of open water on a moonlit night.[5]

It was applied to aircraft from 1918 and was used on the Vickers Virginia, Handley Page Hyderabad, Handley Page Hinaidi, Handley Page Heyfords and Fairey Hendon bombers.

By the mid 1930s, tests had determined that the varnish was too reflective when searchlights were shone on it.[5] NIVO was phased out in the late 1930s, and had been discontinued by the time of the arrival of the new British medium bombers - the Vickers Wellington, Handley Page Hampden and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley.

References
  1. "British Military Colours 1940 to date". Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.
  2. "Urban's Colour Reference Charts – Federal Standard FS.595a/595B to model paints".
  3. Colormine.org Color Converter
  4. Kinsey, Gordon (1 March 1992). Boulton & Paul Aircraft. Terence Dalton Limited. p. 172. ISBN 978-0861380855.
  5. Richardson, Doug (11 October 2001). Stealth Warplanes: Deception, Evasion, and Concealment in the Air. Zenith Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-7603-1051-3.
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