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F-89D colour question


IanHx

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Building the Academy 1/72nd F-89D scorpion and the paint instructions are... well, a bit pants.

Trying to work out which shade of red to use for the 61st FIS 'Texan A' scheme -  quick trawl of t'interweb shows some pictures

with a dark humbrol 60 shade of red, while other pictures show more of a day-glo orange humbrol 209 shade of red.

 

Any pointers which sort of red it should be ?

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I'd go with the red over dayglo, IIRC the colour was referred to as Arctic Red although I think it was a bit darker than Hu.60

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According to the Squadron/Signal booklet.....

 

"The Arctic markings (Insignia Red FS12197) were required on all Air Force aircraft flown over snow-covered areas as an aid in locating aircraft that might be forced down"

 

I used a rattle can of Halfords Volkwagen Mars Red (IIRC) acryllic car spray on my Revell F-89D - plus their generic 'Aluminium' for the silver....

 

Scorpion_002.jpg

 

More here :- http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/model_f-89_scorpion.html

 

Ken

Edited by Flankerman
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I have copies of T.O. 1-1-4 in its 1964 and 1994 iterations. (see scan excerpts below) According the the earlier version the colour for "conspicuity" markings should be ANA 633. This is roughly equivalent to FS 28913, fluorescent red-orange. By 1994 it had been changed to FS 12197, International Orange. However, I must admit that I, too, have seen markings which appear to be in a darker red, so perhaps earlier practices differed.

Bob

conspicuity.jpg

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Ian, don't ever try to match model paints to photos from any source, printed or on your monitor. It's a mug's game and you'll lose. There are so many variables involved that there's no way to know if things are even close to right.

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5 hours ago, Wez said:

Bob, you've hit the nail on the head, you're quoting a 1964 spec against 1950's aircraft.

That's right. Interestingly enough, though, the F-89 is included in the collection of aircraft specs and diagrams in the 1964 T.O. 1-1-4. The 'J' model was used by ANG units through 1969... by which time the 'D' models would have been long gone.

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16 hours ago, Rob G said:

Ian, don't ever try to match model paints to photos from any source, printed or on your monitor. It's a mug's game and you'll lose. There are so many variables involved that there's no way to know if things are even close to right.

True, but it's still a darn sight better than the provided instructions !

 

(Just after something that looks vaguely close, rather than a perfect match under given light conditions / x years weathering . For which purposes looking at a photo helps me a bit. )

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Hi all,

FWIW, here's a slightly corrected copy of the photo above (white adjusted to white and black adjusted to black). If you look at the area behind the "C" on the tail of the nearest aircraft, on my monitor (which has been "color-corrected -- (at least to a certain degree)", is says "INSIGNIA RED". Coincidentally, the area under the tailplane is likely to be among the least faded on the aircraft.

 

59fisf89goosebaycorr-vi.jpg

 

Just my 2 cents'  worth.

 

Ed

 

Edited by TheRealMrEd
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For F-89:

1.Arctic red= insignia red ? :

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1313000556

2.May by this help:

USAAF Aircraft Markings and Camouflage 1941-1947, The History of USAAF Aircraft Markings, Insignia, Camouflage, and Colors Robert D. Archer, and Victor G. Archer Schiffer Publishing (C) 1996.

3.Original F-89 red:

http://www.mewreckchasers.com/Chapmanf89d.html

 

B.R. Serge

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Hi Ian,

 

As others have noted, the original USAF Arctic color was Insignia Red.  Modelers seem to have shortened the term to Arctic Red, but I've not found the name in the few 1950s documents I've seen to date.

 

In the late 1950s, a conspicuity scheme was introduced following the collision of a fighter and an airliner.  There were two fluorescent paint available - Fluorescent Red-Orange and Fluorescent Yellow-Orange, both of which faded rapidly.  Since the red-orange faded to yellow-orange anyway, the military abandoned all use of the yellow-orange.  The paint was expensive and rarely covered areas as large as what you're seeing in that F-89 photo. The conspicuity scheme could often be combined with the arctic scheme - Insignia Red wingtips and tails, with bands of day-glow.  (The combined schemes were more common on airlifters.)

 

The cost of the day-glow paint led to its abandonment in the late 1960s, replaced by International Orange - which also replaced the Insignia Red of the arctic scheme.

 

Your F-89 shot came from an official USAF neg, which was somewhat faded when the reference print was created.  Nearly all on-line copied came from the reference print.  Note also that the Insignia Red seems to have weathered before the photo was taken.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

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