AIM-9L Fleet Air Arm colours 1982

[goon]

Hi All,

I'm building a Falklands FRS.1. Could any one confirm the colours of the AIM-9Ls in use during the conflict. Were they white or the grey similar to Compass Ghost? I've seen both, but only in colour profiles, so not necessarily to be trusted. Did they all have stainless nose sections? I've seen a couple of photos in which this area looks green. 

 

As always, thanks for any help,

Gareth   

[Jabba]

I have just looked in a couple of books that I have on the subject including "Falklands The Air War" and although only black and white pictures the missiles featured do appear to be grey in colour. I say this as they appear to be the same colour as the nose U/C leg which I am sure is Light Grey in colour. Hope that this is of some help.

[Terry1954]

Hi,

 

There are some good pics at these links.......

 

http://s15.zetaboards.com/Mainly_Military/topic/765708/1/

 

https://www.quora.com/During-the-Falkland-Islands-Islas-Malvinas-conflict-how-was-the-Argentinian-Airforce-able-to-inflict-so-much-damage-on-the-British-fleet-with-the-presence-of-the-British-sea-harrier-force - See about 12th picture down.

 

https://www.plane-encyclopedia.com/tag/sidewinder/

 

Hope these help!

 

Terry

[Giorgio N]

The AIM-9L have body and rear fins in grey FS 36375.

The front fins and head are in that elusive dark green/grey/brown metal colour typical of the Sidewinder

[goon]

All very useful, thanks for taking the time to reply everyone.

[Selwyn]

17 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

The AIM-9L have body and rear fins in grey FS 36375.

The front fins and head are in that elusive dark green/grey/brown metal colour typical of the Sidewinder

To be absolutely pedantic The body tube is  FS 36375, the rear wings are 16375 !

 

Selwyn

 

(Who spent a lot of time repairing wings back in the mists of time!)

[goon]

Thanks Selwyn. First digit denotes the finish I believe, I like this kind of pedantry! 

[Giorgio N]

42 minutes ago, goon said:

Thanks Selwyn. First digit denotes the finish I believe, I like this kind of pedantry! 

 

Yes, 1 is gloss, 2 semigloss and 3 matt. However not all colours that only differ in the first digit are the same in all editions of FS595, something to keep in mind

IIRC x6375 is the same colour in all 3 finishes, others are not so better check

[Selwyn]

2 hours ago, goon said:

Thanks Selwyn. First digit denotes the finish I believe, I like this kind of pedantry! 

The 9L wings were a honeycomb structure with a coating of what looked like a fine pollyfilla type material  to give the final shape, they were very susceptable to impact damage hence the many repairs.  The base surface finish was not  that super smooth so you could get away with painting them with 26375 semi gloss for a model, although in real life you used  16375.

 

Selwyn

[Terry1954]

On 1/8/2018 at 7:56 PM, Giorgio N said:

The AIM-9L have body and rear fins in grey FS 36375.

The front fins and head are in that elusive dark green/grey/brown metal colour typical of the Sidewinder

That grey/green/brown metallic colour is indeed very elusive! I've used an equal mix of Tamiya XF-65 field grey, XF-22 RLM grey, XF-51 khaki drab and a dash of white. Seems to come out OKish!

Terry