Painting military aircraft interiors

[pigsty]

Note: this thread is not about specific colours or paints, or about Spitfires, and especially not about Spitfire colours.

The many very interesting threads about the interior colours for this and that aircraft have got me wondering: why paint the inside of a military aircraft at all?

I'm embarking on building a B-26 and I was slightly surprised to find that, while most US medium bombers would have had painted interiors, most B-26s didn't. I would have assumed that painting the insides was standard practice and would have been enforced by the Department of Defense or some such body. Yet it seems as though Martin had determined that there wasn't enough to be gained by adding paint, and no-one seems to have minded enough to insist on it.

I can think of a number of arguments for and against adding paint.

For

• reduces corrosion
• reduces interior glint and other distractions
• makes it easier to spot damage
• may psychologically improve crew well-being
• gives modellers seventy years hence something to argue about

Against

• adds weight
• increases assembly time
• takes up cost and resources
• increases risk of fouling cable runs etc
• aircrew aren't paying customers so no need for a cosmetically pleasant environment

A further complication is that some aircraft (OK, this bit does touch on the Spitfire) seem to have moved from one to the other during their production lives, and some may even have had unpainted interiors painted and vice versa.

So, with a plea not to start a fight, I'll throw it open: does anyone know the reasoning either way?

Edited October 12, 2012 by pigsty

[F-32]

Hmmmm........................that's a good one, and to be honest I have no idea.

However, unless models were moulded in silver plastic us modellers would still need to paint the cockpits to look like unpainted metal!

[Phil]

Corrosion is the big one for airframe components. Try working on a naval aircraft that isn't painted.

Not only are they painted, they are usually covered in liberal CPC products such as Ardrox AV30 or AV100, amongst others. We inspect for and treat bare metal on every 56 day servicing, as well as anything obvious spotted on any other servicing.

Another reason in for painting cockpits is simply the need to have non specular surfaces to allow easy visibility of instruments and other indications (warning lamps etc). And of course, the need for NVG compatibility.

[JMChladek]

I know in the case of post war aircraft, usually interior spots were painted to help make it easier to find any dirt or lubricant stains, which might indicate a problem. Also, as I understand it, the reason why many undercarriage bays are painted white is because white draws in light and allows mechanics to see inside them easier without having to carry a torch/flashlight.

The Martin B-26 was a little different animal in that the aircraft was ordered and went into production before a prototype flew, so perhaps the lack of internal paint was due to that situation. I admit that finding is most surprising though. Fascinating even.

[Wez]

I think in the case of the Marauder and other aircraft you have to balance the time and resources taken to paint some areas versus the expected longevity of the airframe, I think they may not have been expecting airframes to last long enough for corrosion to become an issue.

Wez

[paul_c]

Corrosion is the big one for airframe components. Try working on a naval aircraft that isn't painted.

Not only are they painted, they are usually covered in liberal CPC products such as Ardrox AV30 or AV100, amongst others. We inspect for and treat bare metal on every 56 day servicing, as well as anything obvious spotted on any other servicing.

Another reason in for painting cockpits is simply the need to have non specular surfaces to allow easy visibility of instruments and other indications (warning lamps etc). And of course, the need for NVG compatibility.

Phil has hit the nail on the head there. It's all about 'surface protection'. We can spend ages on the larger services just touching up paint chips on both the interior and exterior structures. Certainly easier dabbing some paint on with a sponge than having to do an airframe repair due to corrosion though!

It's very rarely done by a professional painter though. On Merlin at least, we use a 2 part hand mixed paint that us techies just dab on with either the supplied brush or a piece of foam. Nothing overly neat about it and usually the shade of paint is totally different to its water-based counterpart but it does the job!

Edited October 15, 2012 by paul_c