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F-20 Tigershark - Colour Scheme Query


Bonhoff

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All,

I have an Airfix 1/144th scale F-20 Tigershark that I'm planning on building for the 1/144th GB.

I have a bit of a plan....

I have in my posession a copy of Chuck Yeager's autobiography (A decent read IMO) which shows an F-20 on the front cover and I thought that a model of this would go well with my 1/144th scale Dragon Bell X-1 and the Crown Mustang that I'm also doing as "Glamorous Glenn."

Here comes the query - The kit instructions say to paint the airframe in "Anthracite" Humbrol 85 which I can find loads of info about online. There is also a very fetching red and white scheme but I'm not that mad talented enough to achieve decent results in 1/144th.

The photo on the cover of the book shows the the F-20 with a dark grey airframe with a light grey nose.

Would I be right in assuming Gunship Grey (FS36118) for the airframe? Pointers to reference photos?

TIA

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Have a look HERE for detailed paint scheme. Colours are Gunze, but there are FS no.s which are easily converted.

You'll be looking at 126 US Medium Grey for topside and 127 Ghost Grey for undersides, with a 145 Medium Grey (blue tone) for the anti-glare panel.

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Anthracite grey? It certainly makes sense now looking at the pictures although it wasn't immediately obvious - once painted the alloys on my old mini in a similar shade - think I could mix something up or pop down halfords.

Thanks to you all for your help.

Hopefully I'll have something to show you before the end of the 1/144 GB

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I must say that while I would do it in 1/48 or larger, in tiny 1/144 scale I would probably not use actual car paint - the flake particle size does not scale and it may look overly sparkly in 1/144. I think what I'd do is mix a dark gloss grey with something in the line of a gunmetal metallic until it looked about right.

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It is not FS anything. It was actually painted in a BMW North America car colour. It was a dark metallic grey, not a solid colour.

I have actually spoken (at some length) with the actual person at Northrop who was responsible for that airplane's paint scheme. In fact, they went down to the local Mercedes Benz dealership in Lancaster, California and purchased ten gallons of *Mercedes* anthracite grey. It would have been for the model year sometime around 1982/83, as I spoke to him in late 1984 and the airplane had been painted for some time. That is straight from the horse's mouth - the guy who actually did the painting.

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  • 3 years later...
On 4/11/2013 at 6:28 AM, Jennings Heilig said:

I have actually spoken (at some length) with the actual person at Northrop who was responsible for that airplane's paint scheme. In fact, they went down to the local Mercedes Benz dealership in Lancaster, California and purchased ten gallons of *Mercedes* anthracite grey. It would have been for the model year sometime around 1982/83, as I spoke to him in late 1984 and the airplane had been painted for some time. That is straight from the horse's mouth - the guy who actually did the painting.

 

Lovely, let's recreate the conversation:

 

Manager: So, any ideas on the paint scheme yet?

Painter: Umm, well... I got here a catalogue from Mercedes and um...

Manager: Let me take a look... You think this grey will work?

Painter: Sure, why not? Umm...

Manager: Ok, let's go to the dealer and see if they can sell us some.

Painter::blink:

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On 4/11/2013 at 3:35 AM, Work In Progress said:

Rats. Looks like I got the wrong German luxury car maker.

 

Just chalk it up to "scale effect" if it isn't quite right. Primer color can also effect how the final color looks when painted. In 1/144 you likely want to go with a little lighter shade anyway given how tiny the model is going to be when done.

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On 10/1/2016 at 2:14 PM, riffraff said:

Seeing this thread has been resurrected, does anyone know if there are aftermarket decals for the red and white prototype in 1/72? My kit only came with decals for the gray scheme.

 

Cheers, Lee

 

Hi,

The only company I've seen over the years that has done the red and white scheme in 1/72 is Hasegawa, in two different releases. The easiest one to get hold of is the F-20 'Tigershark Combo' kit, mercifully the decals are actually top notch and not armour thick...

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When I first hired into the Northrop model shop , the shop supervisor kept me after hours to paint up a 1/40 model of what was then called the F-5G in that red and white scheme with the black stripes in an effort to see if I was truly proficient in the uses of the airbrush and all that....It was a real bear to do under his watchful eye, but came off very well.I still have the paint layouts somewhere in the files.

 

Did all sorts of lovely models of the F-5G  during my stay there, even nice big 1/10th scale stuff for the Paris Airshow, I have a great affection for that ship.

They even had me carve one in naval brass in 1/200 scale that was gold plated and then mounted in one of those clocks in a glass dome.To think I got paid for such fun!

 

Happy times.

 

Paul

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  • 6 years later...
On 10/04/2013 at 23:28, Jennings Heilig said:

I have actually spoken (at some length) with the actual person at Northrop who was responsible for that airplane's paint scheme. In fact, they went down to the local Mercedes Benz dealership in Lancaster, California and purchased ten gallons of *Mercedes* anthracite grey. It would have been for the model year sometime around 1982/83, as I spoke to him in late 1984 and the airplane had been painted for some time. That is straight from the horse's mouth - the guy who actually did the painting.

Does anyone have a matching Xtracolor or Revell (also German) for the Mercedes anthracite grey automotive? Thanks!

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Hi @TheoB,

 

I don't think that either of the mentioned paint systems have a matching colour. As I have a Monogram F-20 in my stash I'm too looking for a matching paint. I fear the only way to get a satisfactory result is to look for polishable metal colours (non-polishable ones tend to have too course metallic pigments which do not create a nice finish).

 

I'm currently graviting towards Gunze Mr. Metal Colour Dark Iron (MC214) as a possible match.

 

Cheers

Markus

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I had a similar problem many years ago when I built a prototype F-18 and tried to find out out which color (sic) blue they used and eventually found out that they got the paint from Ford. A bit downmmarket from BMW or Mercedes.

John

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2 hours ago, Hopesdaddy said:

Let's see if I can keep this oldie going. Anyone have a close match for the red used on 82-0062, I have the Hasegawa kit and decals in the stash and now a sudden urge to build it has developed.

Can't help with the paint shade, I'm afraid, but note that the aircraft painted in the red/white scheme actually had an F-5E canopy fitted and (as far as I  can remember anyway) this isn't included in the Hasegawa kit. You'd need an F-5E 'donor kit' to make a really accurate representation.....

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Well, this anthracit gray is in the Testors range, it is not "Black" but dark green .

I have the ancient Hasegawa/Monogram 1.48 kit and the spray can .

For 1.48 "scale color effect"  I do think it is right from the can.

Sorry, but I don't know how to scale down this color to 1/144 color effect, it would be better ask to some Artist more expert on color shades and hues.

I do believe you could calibrate your own "scaled color" using very fine metallic powder.

Yours,

SouthViper. 

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