Neilly105 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Hi All, I'm just about to start building the Tamiya 1/32 F-15E Strike Eagle, for a friend. I'm not really into modern stuff so my knowledge of colour schemes is very limited and I don't really want to buy a whole load of reference books for this one off. Looking at the colour call out for the airframe and to me it looks far to dark for a 2018 machine. Looks okay for a pre-2010 F-15E, though. I'm judging the colours on pictures I've taken over the years. So, the question is - what would be the right colour for the overall airframe? Cheers, Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Hi Neil It should be FS36118 Gunship Grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilly105 Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 That's what the instruction say, but Gunship grey seems way too dark for a 2018 aircraft, Richard. As I said - looks okay on a pre-2010 aircraft, but a 2018 one - I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 FS36118 is the colour reference given in the new Two Bobs "Maximum Effort Eagles" decal sheet which contains markings for the F-15E from 2018. This thread from 2019 may help explain the colour conundrum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilly105 Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 I have that decal set, Richard. The FS36118 colour does seem to be a bit of a minefield. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 All US Strike Eagles are Gunship Gray. The color is prone to fading, though. Cheers, Andre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Yes any colour you want as long as its Gunship Grey, I can recommend our walkaround if you want to see how they look; I can also recommend Vallejo dark grey primer as a fairly decent match. Julien 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilly105 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 Thanks Julian - I do use Vallejo primers and I have to say looking at the dark grey primer it does look closer in colour to the operational F-15E finish, than the darker gunship grey. Cheers, Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthBayKid Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 My experience has been that Vallejo’s colour matching leaves much to be desired. That’s a major reason I sold mine off and switched to MRP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 8 hours ago, NorthBayKid said: My experience has been that Vallejo’s colour matching leaves much to be desired. That’s a major reason I sold mine off and switched to MRP. Like any paint company there will always be some off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobski Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 As has already been said, the aircraft are all FS36118 Gunship Grey. It will appear lighter in some photos because of a combination of lighting and older paint fading, particularly if it has been deployed into the desert sun for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthBayKid Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 (edited) On 1/6/2020 at 3:47 PM, Julien said: Like any paint company there will always be some off. True, but a large percentage of the Vallejo I purchased (over 100 different colours) were more than just "off" - they were utterly wrong. Other people have remarked on this as well. There were multiple cases of the exact same paint colour being sold in different bottles, labeled as different colours. Edited January 8, 2020 by NorthBayKid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilly105 Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Hi Guys, I agree with several comments - I understand about lighting etc (I do aviation photography), however, I have stood next to and photographed close up F-15's. I think if you're building a factory fresh F-15E then the original gunship grey is the right colour. I feel an older F-15E will have a more faded grey colour. Maybe even ocean grey and then do the weathering, which will darken the grey, anyway. Some interesting points raised, which I'll take into account. WW2 stuff is so much easier. lol Thanks for all the input. Cheers, Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 15 minutes ago, Neilly105 said: Hi Guys, I agree with several comments - I understand about lighting etc (I do aviation photography), however, I have stood next to and photographed close up F-15's. I think if you're building a factory fresh F-15E then the original gunship grey is the right colour. I feel an older F-15E will have a more faded grey colour. Maybe even ocean grey and then do the weathering, which will darken the grey, anyway. Some interesting points raised, which I'll take into account. WW2 stuff is so much easier. lol Thanks for all the input. Cheers, Neil When they used the colour on OA-37s in Korea it used to go veryight and chalky Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 2 hours ago, Julien said: When they used the colour on OA-37s in Korea it used to go veryight and chalky Here is a nicely weathered Beagle: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:89-0471_McDonnell_Douglas_F-15E_Strike_Eagle_(41819235215).jpg Cheers, Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 1 hour ago, Hook said: Here is a nicely weathered Beagle: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:89-0471_McDonnell_Douglas_F-15E_Strike_Eagle_(41819235215).jpg Cheers, Andre With a new airbrake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delayar Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 On 1/8/2020 at 8:30 PM, Hook said: Here is a nicely weathered Beagle: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:89-0471_McDonnell_Douglas_F-15E_Strike_Eagle_(41819235215).jpg Cheers, Andre Hi! Nice picture. However, it looks like contrast has been enhanced in post-processing. It even looks alittle bit over-sharpened. Both techniques pronounce the weathering effects, so they might be a little more subtle on the bird itself. cheers, Markus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 On 15/01/2020 at 07:18, Delayar said: Hi! Nice picture. However, it looks like contrast has been enhanced in post-processing. It even looks alittle bit over-sharpened. Both techniques pronounce the weathering effects, so they might be a little more subtle on the bird itself. cheers, Markus Quite possibly. When I had a look at the top of one there was some wear up there but no where near that amount. ## Interesting to note quite a bit of wear on leading edges, and some touched up in lighter paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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