chrish Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I am modeling a 1/72 Fujimi Phantom of RAF 1435 Flt using the new Xtradecal Phantom sheet. The nose/radome is supposed to be fibreglass coloured. Anyone know of a Tamiya paint (or paint mixture) that might work for this? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Martin Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 The radome and original rounded fincap were a combination of ‘glass cloth laminate, laminated glass or plastic, fibreglass roving and volanglass cloth’ materials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phone Phixer Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 (edited) I've always mixed my own colour for fibreglass panels. Making a light brown with a yellow tinge to it. The Phantom radomes were usually coloured grey by the time of 1435 Flt. A shade slightly darker than the barley grey of the upper camouflage. There was a F4J(UK) that had its radome discolour to a brown colour. If you have details of a specific aircraft with that colour, fair enough, but I've not heard of one. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/military-unit/1435 Flt Rob. Edited February 21, 2018 by Phone Phixer added link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Des Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Modeldecal instruction sheets for the earlier grey Spey engined Phantoms from around 1981 make no distinction between the Barley Grey uppersurfaces and the radome however by the mid-80s there is a distinction in the drawings and the radome is described as being 'a matt-finish brown-tinted medium grey (similar to Barley Grey with a brown tint).' No explanation is offered as to whether that had always been the case but not previously remarked upon or if it was the result of several years exposure to the elements or was it a slightly different finish. By 1988 the term 'satin-finish medium brownish grey' was used however in Sheet 115 which includes 1435 Flight markings from 1991 the colour scheme drawings are back to making no distinction between the Barley Grey uppersurfaces and the radome and no mention is made of any possible difference. Just to add a little more confusion to the mix both the Linewrights Aeroguide for the FG.1/FGR.2 includes artwork for an aircraft with what they describe as a 'Medium Sea Grey' radome while one of the 29 Sqn. options from around 1982/1983 has what is described as a 'semi-matt medium neutral grey' radome although other options on the same sheet make no differentiation between the radome and uppersurface Barley Grey. Over the years some images of actual aircraft show what are obviously differently coloured radomes while others do not so maybe just a case of pick your aircraft and compare images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I've justed painted it medium sea grey, slighlty darker than barley grey, job done 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrish Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 Thank you for your quick and detailed responses. Much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I used Humbrol Barley Grey/Camouflage Grey mixed with a small quantity of Dark Earth for a Tornado F. Mk. 3 radomes which was a fairly close match for some images of the type. Some aircraft had radomes whose colour was identical to the remainder of the aeroplane and these may have been painted more recently than those with the “discoloured” radomes. In earlier years some “black” Phantom radomes also had a distinct brown or bronze tint after some time in service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 The problem here is understanding what Xtradecal mean with fibreglass colour... The radome on grey Phantoms was painted in grey, I have to check if this was supposed to be Medium Sea Grey or Barley Grey. In any case being a different type of paint applied to a different material, the radome almost always differed from the Barley Grey upper fuselage, looking darker and often with a brownish tinge, a tinge that may be due to the underlying colour... And the underlying colour is important here ! The radome on the Phantoms was a reddish brown fibreglass piece. This colour could sometimes be seen on the tip on particularly worn radomes and there have been instances of British Phantoms showing unpainted fibreglass radomes. Some discussion on the colour of Phantom radomes can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/35997-f-4j-uk-phantom/&page=6 An example of a radome showing the natural fibreglass can be seen in one of the pictures on this page: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/XV421 Warning: while the webpage has pictures of XV421, the aircraft in grey with the fibreglass radome can not be XV421 as she never served with 56 Sqn. Moreover XV421 in 1991 was one of the aircrafts serving with 1435 Flt. IIRC she was F "Faith". This aircraft was unfortunately lost in October 1991, disappearing into the clouds during an ACM exercise and crashing in the sea with the loss of the whole crew. So the matter is: is Xtradecals saying that the aircraft in their sheet had an unpainted fibreglass radome ? Or do they simply mean that the aircraft had a radome of a different grey compared to the rest of the fuselage ? If the latter is the case then simpy using a different grey, like Medium Sea Grey can work. Adding a few drops of brown makes the result even better. If Xtradecal means that the aircraft actually had a natural fibreglass radome, then you want to use a reddish brown. However I'd like to know where Xtradecals found this info, as while brown radomes did exist within the RAF Phantom fleet, they were not really that common. There aren't that many pictures of 1435 Flt Phantoms around, in any case none of the ones I've seen shows an unpainted radome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzie Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 All down to how the aircraft is primed then painted. Im sure there are a couple of people on here will know more, but this is what i remember from what i was told when i asked the question. All the metal parts were primed then top coated in whatever shade of grey that area required. The radome being brown when ready for paint and not subject to as many coats of paint as the rest of the airframe, would sometimes show its base colour through the top coat. Differences in batches of paint then dirt, wear and tear will also show itself through the life of the airframe between servicing. Arabest, Geoff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverkite211 Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 How about Testors 'Radome Tan'? You might have to darken it slightly. Or perhaps 'Armor Sand', also from Testors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 9 hours ago, silverkite211 said: How about Testors 'Radome Tan'? You might have to darken it slightly. Or perhaps 'Armor Sand', also from Testors? They’ll be way too beige. Radome tan is a colour seen on USN ac in the 60 and 70s and is very beige. As many have said the phantom has a grey radome of varying shades https://goo.gl/images/mxSSRJ. https://goo.gl/images/4tYcmM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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