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Airfix 1:72 B-17G: How Correct are the Interior Colours?


3DStewart

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I'm working on Airfix's B-17G in the Eighth Air Force Resupply set and I'd appreciate some advice on the interior colours recommended by Airfix.  Are they correct, or at least reasonably correct?

 

The predominate cockpit colour is Hu 195 (satin dark green), with some interior surfaces Hu 29 (matt dark earth). The bomb bay is mostly Hu 56 (matt aluminium), as are the walls of the fuselage. The central floor and walkway is Hu 33 (matt black) with parts in Hu 110 (matt natural wood).

 

I know that there was variation in colours with version and manufacturers, but I thought bare aluminium was fairly rare and that cockpit green was lighter than dark green.  Did not zinc chromate play a part as well?

 

Thanks

 

Stewart

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Airfix have got the interior colours correct - as I stated in the thread you've found it's a very common misconception that US Interior Green was used. Not a single B-17 that rolled off the production line was painted with Interior Green, or zinc chromate for that matter. All internal areas (cockpit aside) were left in natural metal. 

 

Only the exposed metal areas of the flightdeck were painted, and these were Bronze Green. There was olive green padding on the sidewalls however. 

 

Don't fall into the trap of using modern restorations as references - they are often far from accurate when compared to their WWII counterparts and anti-corrosion and long term preservation takes precedence over historical accuracy. 

 

Tom

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On 7/25/2017 at 8:35 AM, tomprobert said:

Don't fall into the trap of using modern restorations as references - they are often far from accurate when compared to their WWII counterparts and anti-corrosion and long term preservation takes precedence over historical accuracy. 

 

Why not paint them aluminium colour? Then you could have anti-corrosion and preservation and still look historically accurate?

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34 minutes ago, Marvel Onkey said:

 

Why not paint them aluminium colour? Then you could have anti-corrosion and preservation and still look historically accurate?

 

I've often thought the same myself!

Edited by tomprobert
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Yes it's possible to protect the metal and be historically accurate but as original question implies not everyone knows what the actual colours are and as we see in every debate on colour schemes here and elsewhere there is frequently no definitive answer. As far as the owners of historic aircraft are concerned the airworthiness and protection of the aircraft is foremost so they use the ubiquitous zinc chromate primer. Externally it's the same, gloss instead of matt and historically spurious schemes. I walked a line up of P51s last year and no two were the same, some close to historic others imaginitive. Some were painted aluminium overall and others polished metal. Some had the accurately painted aluminium wings and NM fuselage but others had NM wings.  It's not that owners don't want to be accurate it's just that practicality trumps accuracy most of the time.

 

As for painting interior colours.  Well for me it's mostly 'a monkey smoking a pipe'. Meaning ; something you'll never see! So my Airfix B17 remains larely unpainted internally and missing several fiddly bits which would be invisible anyway. OK so I'll be drummed out of the rivet counter fusiliers but I don't care.😉

Edited by noelh
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