US Navy Colour Schemes - Modern

[sailorboy61]

I'm trying to get myself together on the colours used in low vis / grey colour schemes.

I've seen references in various build logs, but as usual can't find again now I want!

My preference (for ease) are Vallejo acrylics although I know they don't do the likes of Ghost/Gull grey.

Anyone point me in the right direction please??

Cheers

[Giorgio N]

Would you consider switching to another brand ? Lifecolor and Xtracrylics have all the colours you need without having to mix your own as you'll likely have to do using Vallejo's and they are easy to use.

The colours used are the following Federal Standard colours:

FS 35237

FS 36320

FS 36375

FS 36495 (in the early days of the TPS scheme)

The ones listes above are the colours used on the US Navy carrierborne aircrafts, although not all aircrafts have carried all colours

Aircrafts like the AV-8B use other colours

[scotthldr]

Didn't the F14 use FS36251 at some point?

What US Navy a/c uses FS35237, not saying your wrong just asking?

[Parabat]

Tomcats have 35237 as the top coat of their tps.

[Don McIntyre]

F-18s used 35237 on the upper surfaces. I know the anti-glare panel for sure, but I'm not at home to check refs now.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Don McIntyre

[smyfe]

Don't know if this helps but i use it

http://www.dstorm.eu/pages/color/usa.html

http://www.cybermodeler.com/resource8.shtml

Mick

[scotthldr]

On the F14 is it the anti glare area that's 35237 with upper surfaces 36320?

Found this as well http://www.afwing.com/intro/usn_scheme1.htm

[Parabat]

On the F14 is it the anti glare area that's 35237 with upper surfaces 36320?

Found this as well http://www.afwing.com/intro/usn_scheme1.htm

On some, but I would say it is (was?) an exception. The majority of F-14's would have had the FS 35237 as the upper colour, generally covering the upper fuselage from the beavertail (though not on the vertical tails) to the rear of the canopy or even flowing past the canopy to the nose. The FS 36320 would genrally be the vertical tails and sides of the forward fuselage, often going back down the sides of the 'turtleback' either covering the panels just to the rear of the canopy or even ina contoured 'triangle'. The FS 36375 would be the undersides, from nose to tail, including the vertical side surfaces from the intakes. Of course, there is no EXACT demarcation, as it would often vary from paintshop to paintshop and especially when touched up by the units.

Additionally, being exposed to the elements would rapidly fade the paint, only exacerbated by the salt spray, so the FS 35237 topsides would often 'merge' into the FS 36320 sides, which itself would 'merge' into the FS 36375 undersides. Add topical corrosion control spray paint and you have a patchy, mottled feline on your hands.

I would say the best option is to select a plane you want to model, and try to collect as many pictures you can during the time frame to be as accurate as possible.

I would also pass on these references for additional review:

[Parabat]

Don't know if this helps but i use it

http://www.dstorm.eu/pages/color/usa.html

http://www.cybermodeler.com/resource8.shtml

Mick

I would say the Cybermodeller reference (Afterburner) is the best one for a general TPS Tomcat. Nice find BTW!

[sailorboy61]

Thanks all - never ceases to amaze whats out there on the www if you kknow where to look.

The cybermodeller stuff is very useful.

[Don McIntyre]

I received these drawings directly from McDonnell-Douglas:

I'm pretty sure this qualifies as the "early" F-18 scheme. IIRC, it's also the scheme applied to the Finnish aircraft when originally received.

[smyfe]

Another one i refer to is

http://www.jpsmodell.de/dc/luft_e.htm

hopefully they may be of some use to you.

Mick

[Giorgio N]

Didn't the F14 use FS36251 at some point?

What US Navy a/c uses FS35237, not saying your wrong just asking?

Others have already commented on the Tomcat and its official scheme, so no need to go there again except for adding that at some point different units seem to have interpreted the scheme in different ways. VF-84 for example used for a while an unusual demarcation where the 35237 was carried quite low over the sides, as shown in this picture:

http://acecombatskies.com/gallery/image/1336-vf-84-jolley-rogers-f-14a/

Other aircrafts that used this colour in the scheme were:

- F-4, that had most of the uppersurfaces in this colour, including the whole wing

- EA-6B, with a large area around the cockpit and a smaller on top of the fin antenna fairing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wbaiv/8572488898/)

- A-4 and OA-4, with a scheme not too different from the Phantom

USN Hornets only used this colour for the antiglare panel but interestingly the Australian and Canadian aircrafts have all top surfaces in 35237

Don is right in commenting on the nice drawing he posted: that was the original Hornet scheme and later aircrafts had 36320 over 36375

[tmeyer]

As an aside, and somewhat off topic, FS 36176 and 36251 are the current F-15C colours.

The F-4 wore the TPS very late in it's career, mainly wearing gloss white and gloss gull gray.

Tom

[phildagreek]

OMG. You people are operating at a whole different level to me.

[Gary C]

Didn't the F14 use FS36251 at some point?

Not as far as I know. The only usage on USN stuff I can think of is on adversary jets, mostly in conjunction with 36307 and 35237 as part of original F-16N scheme. It's the same set of colours used on the first F-21's, and was also used on a few A-4's and T-2C's.

If you want a couple of others to add to a shopping list then 36118 and 36081 would be useful. The current AV-8B scheme is 36118 over 35237 with stencils and markings in the opposing colour. It's also the topside colour on USAF F-16's. 36081 is sometimes used in place of 35237 for insignia, stencil markings and trim, like fincaps or for the entire fin instead of black on some CAG jets. It's also used as the grey in the Euro one scheme on A-10's and F-4's so it's a handy colour to have.