S-3 Viking leading edge slats colour

[goon]

Hi all,

I'm building Italeri's 1/48 Viking and dropping the leading edge slats in an overall Light Ghost Grey (VS-33 Screwbirds). I can't determine the colour of the leading edge exposed when the slats droop. I can't find many in red, but is the exposed part natural metal or a painted dark grey?

 

Thanks for any help,

Gareth

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Hello Gareth ... I understand that for safety reasons all navy aircraft are painted red in any area that is a hazard to ground crew. My guess is the answer is red. However i have an aftermarket decal set of the screwbirds ( same project as you just havent gotten around to it). I can take a look at mine and see if there is any mention in them. 

[goon]

Hi There,

If you have the CAM decals sheet (paired with the Dragonfires scheme) then I can see no mention of the slat or flap interior colours. 

 

Apologies for linking someone else's picture,  it I'm seeing this most often with the low viz schemes. https://goo.gl/images/hBwnLC

 

I'm hopeless with colours (which can make this a frustrating hobby to say the least 🙂) so can't tell if that is bare metal or a dark grey.

 

Thanks for your response,

Gareth

[Giorgio N]

Slats inner surfaces should be red but pictures of the S-3 don't show this colour at all (while the flaps do). The area is very hard to see as the slats don't leave a big gap, my take after checking several pictures with folded wings is that the area was in some sort of metal colour. I'd assume painted metal rather than bare for corrosion control reasons

[tempestfan]

I see no safety reason for the slat "well" being red, as there is no risk for any Crew to walk against an edge and damage itself and/or the airframe.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Yes they are the CAM Decals. Sorry they wont help. Now i will also check my personal photo's i was fortunate to spend time aboard the U.S.S. Forrestal in 1990 and may have captured photos of S-3's from Vultures row.

   Now im not trying to ruffle feathers or say anyone is incorrect. I just believe there are good reasons to be aware of the slats. The aircraft used on aircraft carriers do undergo maintenance both on land at sea. There are walkways on the upper surfaces for a reason. Crew do crawl around on wings doing maintenance even on board a ship at sea. There are repairs/inspections to be done both internal as well as external from on top. And as someone else pointed out they also touch up the paint from time to time for corrosion control.

   Please If you don't believe me or think im incorrect you could google it. Im pretty sure there are photos of maintenance and possibly of inspections being done on aircraft. Ultimately if in the end im proven wrong i will accept that with a hearty thank you and a smile on my face.

 

[Giorgio N]

1 hour ago, tempestfan said:

I see no safety reason for the slat "well" being red, as there is no risk for any Crew to walk against an edge and damage itself and/or the airframe.

 

Red is used for every area that could pose a danger on the flightline or during maintenance. Crew may not walk into flaps or slats inner areas but will work on these as part of maintenance activities and the red colour indicates that these may retract, so posing a danger. The same applies to airbrakes.

 

During the introduction of the TPS scheme there was some discussion about some of these red areas as airbrakes, flaps and slats also deploy during dogfighting and the sudden appearance of a bright red spot can become a clear indicator of the aircraft position and attitude. In the end though the red is still there

 

Edited: I should add that the same red colour also makes clearer to see if flaps and slats are properly deployed, something that adds safety

Edited July 26, 2017 by Giorgio N

[goon]

Thanks for the discussion everyone. I think it makes sense that the inner area of the slat would be red, but that, as photos of the lower vis. schemes show, the slat "well" is a metal colour.

 

Quote

Yes they are the CAM Decals. Sorry they wont help.

No problem, I'm using this sheet too so I've got the instrucions.

[71chally]

Low viz Vikings had very little red on them, confined to the flaps upper surfaces and the wing spoilers inner surfaces.

The Viking has leading edge flaps that simply hinge down, as opposed to retractable slats, so the exposed inner surface area is quite small.  I've always taken it as painted in a darker shade of grey, but I could be wrong with that.

[goon]

Quote

The Viking has leading edge flaps that simply hinge down

 

You're right, I hadn't registered this. I reckon painted grey for corrosion control will be correct.

 

Thanks everyone.

Edited July 26, 2017 by goon