PhantomBigStu Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Not wanting to open a can of worms but suspect I will anyway, my understanding is there was a darker shade used pre 1943called Neutral Grey 43 which is similar to the postwar FS36173, which is what I've been using as a NG43, however I'm led to believe there was lighter shade used for the rest of the war similar to RAF medium sea grey? Am I correct as I may be doing an operation overlord C-47, and if so what brands out there are suitable for this lighter grey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 I have a couple of Jeffrey Ethell's books, which include some C-47 photos from 1945. NG on this type (and on any other type for that matter) looks pretty dark to me. Will try to find these photos on the web. I do not know it this helps, but the old recipe for NG is to mix equal parts of black and white as it has been said FS 36173 leans slightly towards blue. Cheers Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, PhantomBigStu said: there was a darker shade used pre 1943 called Neutral Grey 43 No, but there was one called Neutral Gray 43. Have you read this thread frrom three weeks ago? We got into that lighter colour, and there are some decent colour pics of contemporaneous examples Edited June 3, 2019 by Work In Progress 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted June 3, 2019 Author Share Posted June 3, 2019 31 minutes ago, Work In Progress said: No, but there was one called Neutral Gray 43. Have you read this thread frrom three weeks ago? We got into that lighter colour, and there are some decent colour pics of contemporaneous examples Ah so I've got things a bit wrong, so I can be happy painting mine with Xtracrylix 16173 or perhaps going with @Giorgio N suggestion of vallejo 992 as I'm out of XA of course its the olive drab I have to worry about instread, though I think I'm happy with either XA OD or even going back to Hum155 now they seem to have a handle on the acrylic production Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Unfortunately I could not find any of the photos from Jeff Ethell's books on the web. However, while searching for genuine WWII vintage C-47 colour photos (one has been posted here) I came across Paul Lucas PDF article here titled Shades of drab. While focus is on Olive Drab (differences between early OD 41 and later ANA 613 OD) it also deals with NG 43 (and later ANA 603 Sea Gray) and Medium Green, all three colours of basic C-47 WWII paint scheme. Cheers Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Bell Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Neutral Gray was adopted for undersides as a high-altitude camouflage. Above 10,000 feet, the earth's atmosphere reflects enough light to make most aircraft appear silvery - the dark gray helped make AAF aircraft appear smaller and farther away. The standard never changed, but some folks applied a much lighter gray than specified. I'm not sure if some Neutral Grays 43 were produced as lighter colors, or if some aircraft manufacturers used a lighter color thinking it seemed preferable. As noted above, photos are your friend... Cheers, Dana 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antti_K Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Hello guys, here is a couple of my photos of an P-39Q Airacobra still in it's original paint. Look at the wing underside only; the fuselage between MLG wells has been repainted. And another one showing the NLG door. This time original paint. NCS number for the Neutral Gray in this specimen is S5502-B. Kind Regards, Antti 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 20 hours ago, Jure Miljevic said: I have a couple of Jeffrey Ethell's books, which include some C-47 photos from 1945. NG on this type (and on any other type for that matter) looks pretty dark to me. Will try to find these photos on the web. I do not know it this helps, but the old recipe for NG is to mix equal parts of black and white as it has been said FS 36173 leans slightly towards blue. Cheers Jure Neutral Grey 43 was not the result of mixing black and white. The pigments used are mentioned in Archer's"USAAF Aircraft Markings and Camouflage 1941-47" as titanium dioxide, yellow iron oxide and lamp black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Bell Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Hi Giorgio, I'm not sure where Archer came up with his formula for Neutral Gray 43, but there was no such formula in any of the AAF's specifications or tech orders. Cheers, Dana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 5 hours ago, Dana Bell said: Hi Giorgio, I'm not sure where Archer came up with his formula for Neutral Gray 43, but there was no such formula in any of the AAF's specifications or tech orders. Cheers, Dana Hi Dana no detail is given in the book. I know that Nick Millman also mentioned the same pigments in the recent AK book on aircraft camouflage in WW2, he may have the relevant documentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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