Yes Chris, as far as I know BOAC Comet 4s were always metal finish on the lower fuselage & wings.
Don't think they kept them long enough to repaint any.
1) The surface of the metal underneath may include a fair bit of corrosion and/or repairs
2) The amount of work required to get back to a good polished ali finish is probably a lot more and would require a lot of continuous work to preserve it
Lets not forget that like at Cosford (where the airliner's were BA's not the MoD's), the airliners are not part of the IWM's collection but the Duxford Aviation Society's and since the museum as a whole is IWM.....
I remember some years back getting a bit of paper inside one of Duxford's airshow progs with a diagram of what was 'proposed' to be on display in the enlarged hangar and bless my soul, they have similar to the same on the IWM Duxford website..
Of course, things move along and times change but the current plan looks to be much the same as the original
Does anyone know why the Argosy got moved out of the display area at Cosford and out onto the airfield by the Air Ambulance?? Hang on a bit.. blows dust off remaining brain cell..
From what I remember, the Argosy used to be parked at the end of the line up by the top hangar (Vulcan up the top end.. Victor.. Varsity then the Argosy (I think)) and at that time, the new car park area and main reception building were grassed bits with aircraft on. She was probably moved out of the way prior to building work starting as there may not have been anywhere else to put her. With plans already in place for the Cold War hangar.. there'd still be nowhere for her to go (due to building work) but.. with the demise of the BA fleet.. they must surely have somewhere to put her now?? :think: She looked in fair nick back then but I am going back a few years :roll:
<--Just waking up for the day (night) at work - Ah Dirty B*ll*cks in all her glory - she looks a lot better than the last time I saw her parked on the Ponderosa at Luton - Im going to guess that by the amount of scab patches she had then Garry and DMs suppositions about why shes painted grey underneath is probably correct
:redface: 
