USN Insignia White

[The Good Sergeant]

Stu, I wouldn't obsess too much over trying to find the perfect "white." When you consider all of the factors that affect the paint on the actual aircraft (weathering, staining), as well as a model (scale effect, lighting, paint variations), any discrepancy on our models is imperceptible.

Steven Brown

Scale Model Soup

[Nick Millman]

I wasn't meaning to be critical, Nick, I was just wanting to overcome a misperception that I've seen many times over the years. I do agree with the white being a "cool" white. To me having a yellow/brown tint connotes "warm," and it definitely was not that.

Again, thank you for the detailed info on the color itself.

Hi Don

I didn't take your observation as being critical and was grateful for the opportunity to explain the FS colour further rather than leaving the impression of a "warm" white, thanks.

Regards

Nick

[Tailspin Turtle]

Well, I was describing the FS colour standard from a measured colour science perspective whilst you're describing paint applied to match that standard from an observational experience of long standing so I would not presume to dispute your perception. The standard actually has a very subtle greenish undertone (from the combination of yellow and blue) and is a "cold" white which some might perceive as blueish or even greyish, but on its own would simply look "white". The colour tinting at 0.7 saturation is very low indeed but when the 17875 chip is compared directly to the 17925 chip the former looks slightly greyish. The juxtaposition with the Gull Grey probably reinforces the perception of a pure "white".

But there are interesting colour photographs of a Skyraider loaded with a toilet on one of its pylons which I think illustrate the subtle difference - the toilet being presumed to be a pure porcelain white. Given that the Skyraider is not pristinely clean to begin with I still think the difference between the whites is apparent to the eye.

FWIW on a model I would recommend simply cutting a pure white with a dab of green or grey and letting the eye do the rest in terms of harmonising the result. The Skyraider images might help in that regard.

Nick

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2013/04/things-under-wings-va-25-1-skyraider.html

[DX-SFX]

Late to the party on this one but did want to throw in a few observations. I did some research on various whites for another project, all based on car colours, all of which you'd swear were white when seen on the vehicle in isolation outside. In fact none of the manufacturers produce a car painted in a pure white (it would be rather dazzling) so memory of observation can be misleading. In fact most were surprisingly grey/tinged when offered up to a real white. Even rattle can white primers vary a lot from manufacturer to manufacturer even though each appears to be white. I can only suggest anyone reading this goes find two different white primers from their collection and compares some sprayed samples.

[jpk]

For me...Tamiya rattle can white primer straight from the can. Heat the can in hot water, shake well and apply in light coats. Lays down like you used an airbrush. You can always tint it after with a wash to taste. 

[Seawinder]

I'm using Mr. Color C316 "White 17875" on a current F-14 build. It's definitely not as bright as their C1 Gloss White. I wasn't sure whether or not to go with it since a lot of the markings on the plane I'm doing are also white (decals, so no options for the tint). However, I found this photo of an A-7 that shows a pretty obvious difference between the under-surface white (presumably 17875) and the white in the national insignia.

 

[DX-SFX]

The rudder looks whiter than the colour underneath too even allowing for weathering.

[DX-SFX]

Now this is interesting. E-Paints have a reputation for knowing their stuff.

https://www.e-paint.co.uk/colour-alternatives.asp?cRange=Federal+Standard+595C&cRef=17875&cDescription=Insignia+white+/+ANA+515+/+MIL-E-1115+

Edited October 13, 2022 by DX-SFX

[Casey]

I used FS-17875 recently on my FS-18A build.

 

I got the following recipe using Golden Fluids (https://goldenpaints.com/products/colors/fluid):

        Titanium White: 9
        Titan Green Pale: 1

 

Titan Green Pale is mixture of Titanium Dioxide Rutile / Synthetic Hydrated Iron Oxide / Natural Iron Oxide containing Manganese / Chlorinated Copper Phthalocyanine

 

The resulting mixture corresponds to this color and is almost an exact match to the original FS paint chip.

 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by Casey

[DX-SFX]

Looks like the examples in the link I posted above.

[Casey]

30 minutes ago, DX-SFX said:

Looks like the examples in the link I posted above.

It is a pretty close match, here is how my spectrophotometer sees it compared to original FS1785 paint chip

 

[DX-SFX]

That strikes me as so close as makes no odds.

 

[John R]

Talking about the eye of the beholder I have just undergone an operation on my right eye to remove a cataract and now each eye sees a different shade of white. My 'white' kitchen cabinets now look 'off-white' to my left eye but bright white to the right one. I also remember seeing my infant son have that test for colour blindness where you have to pick out a number from a field of coloured dots and it became obvious that he was seeing a completely different one from me.

Fascinating

John

[11bravo]

Only thing I can add is that looking at actual in-service USN aircraft, I always noted that the undersurface white, appeared (to my completely uncalibrated eye) to have a oh so ever slightly brown-ish yellow tint to it.   If I was building a model of a naval jet in that scheme, I would avoid any kind of "pure" white color.