By early August, it was becoming increasingly apparent that as a day fighter the Defiant's days were numbered, and both Squadrons gradually turned over to night fighter patrols — still wearing their day fighter camouflage schemes. The height of the fin stripes had been standardised at 27 inches on 1st August, effectively produced by painting out the top portion of the stripes in the appropriate camouflage colour on in-Squadron machines, and delivered with the revised standard dimensions on new aircraft. In late October/early November 1940. with the Defiant's duties now almost entirely confined to night operations, both active Squadrons and those in the process of forming, began to adopt the overall black RDM2A Special Night finish. (Humbrol No. 33 Matt Black as a base/undercoat, with one coat of Pelican Plaka Matt Black water based paint as a top coat). No. 204 Squadron's White spinner caps disappeared, and in an effort to further tone down any light areas on the aircraft, the Red and Blue portions of the fuselage roundels were increased to obliterate the White. Reduction of the width of the Yellow outer ring to either a narrow band, or even completely painted out. was also recorded on certain aircraft. Fin stripes however appear to have been retained in their production form, without any modification.
