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U.S. dumb bomb colours


Sierra Mike Sierra

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Roaming around here I have found a lot about the colours of WWII and modern British bombs and inert bombs, but nothing on how U.S. dumb bombs like the M117 or the Mk 81-84 series are painted. 

 

Maybe I missed something... But does anybody know the (standard) colour of these dumb bombs. It is certainly some sort of olive green / olive drab. I read somewhere FS 34087 would be the true colour. But I am still unsure.

 

Thanks 

 

Stefan

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FS 34087 is the colour, however this fades so badly just about any olive drab will do.  I always paint the tail unit a different OD as they are stored seperately and therefore fade differently. Seeing a really badly faded bomb with a shiny bright tail is not unusual!

 

Selwyn

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Depending on the time frame USN/USMC bombs can have the tail unit in FS36375 ,lately the USN/USMC warheads have been painted grey too. As the transition took place the warhead and tail units could be a combination as they were mixed and matched. 

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2 minutes ago, Slater said:

On rare occasions bombs will be a Forest Green tone. Which is what happens when you run out of Olive Drab and still have 18 bombs to paint :D

You can't just make a quick trip to Lowes? 

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AMMO!  As I recall from my experiences in the 355th Wing, the munition guys/gals were a little off their rockers, but highly motivated and very close-knit.  Those are some stunning photos from the good old days (like, when I was in).  I like the photo of the guys with the CBU-87s in their nesting boxes.  Or are those CBU-97s?

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Olive drab and yellow, @Selwyn has the correct FS595 number, you can modify it from there. I don't know the FS595 number for the yellow(yes, it does exist); but, someone does. This is the standard color(s) for all high explosive munitions from mortar rounds(I was a 4.2 inch'107mm mortar crewman in my early days) to the 16 inch rounds fired by the battleships to the bombs carried by the USAF, USN, and USMC.

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3 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

AMMO!  As I recall from my experiences in the 355th Wing, the munition guys/gals were a little off their rockers, but highly motivated and very close-knit.  Those are some stunning photos from the good old days (like, when I was in).  I like the photo of the guys with the CBU-87s in their nesting boxes.  Or are those CBU-97s?

Mk 20 Rockeyes.

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10 hours ago, JPuente54 said:

@Selwyn I don't know the FS595 number for the yellow(yes, it does exist); but, someone does.

Flat Insignia yellow is FS 33538.

Later,

Dave

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U.S. Dumb Bomb Colors

 

US GP Bombs' are neither "smart nor dumb’ they are just bombs.  The fuzing, sensing and guidance package in conjunction with velocity and gravity assist greatly in determining how accurate these weapons are once released from an aircraft. 

 

As for color the correct shade of OD has been noted above.  Weathering will have affected the ‘sunny-side-up’ side of a bomb that has spent years in open storage.  The key to accurately replicating the correct look on a scale model is recognizing that the various ‘add-on’ components such as fins and guidance packages will be a shade or two different in color from the actual bomb and devoid of any weathering effects.  In the end, the more shades of OD that is used on, for example, a GBU-10 the more accurate it will look at the end of the day.  Good luck and good modeling!

 

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46 minutes ago, Slater said:

My understanding is that FS 34087 is now 34088, for some reason.

 

Correct, 34087 was changed to 34088 in 1984 with Change.7 of FS.595A. Reason was that for a number of reasons the previous FS 34087 was a very different colour from 14087 and 24087. With Change 7 the previous 34087 became 34088 while the previous 14087 and 24087 were renamed 14084 and 24084

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...
2 hours ago, darthspud said:

Sorry to open this thread, but when did thr USN munitions from OD to grey.?

I'm building an A7E/D from 1992. Which colour would the MK82's be?

It would be hard to date from the order.  It would probably be better to say when did the aircraft camoflage schemes change to grey?  The reason fort the Bomb colour  change was to match the aircraft  camoflage.  In peacetime the aircraft change is done on a time basis (time between repaints) or major servicing. so that stretches out the transition period from one camoflage scheme to another.  When the decision is made to change colour  of the weapon this is usually done on bomb servicing which frequency may be as long as every 10 years, so  the transition  from one colour to the other  would take place over that time period. The other factor is  life, if you are dropping live ordnance you use up the oldest stuff in your inventory first, not the newest. so the older colour stuff might be seen more.

 

Selwyn

 

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Yep, by the time McAlester AAP rolled out the first grey bombs there was already a multiyear supply of OD ones in the system. And USAF (and possibly USN/USMC) bombs are only repainted if required by corrosion, fading, etc. In fact USAF GP bombs can have up to 3/4 of the surface coated in rust before corrosion control is required.

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The USAF had used OD bombs and bomb fins for decades, probably at least since WWII. At Nellis AFB in the late 1980's we were doing a routine buildup of Mk 84 low drags. The bombs had arrived on the buildup pad, and the fuzes, boosters, and other components were on hand. When the Mk 84 tail fins arrived, they were grey. We'd never seen a grey USAF bomb fin. It sounds kind of silly now, but for a time we weren't certain on what to do - should we get some rattlecans and repaint them OD? Would the loaders or pilots reject them? We went ahead with the assembly. Turns out grey fins work just as well as OD ones :D

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G'day SMS,

 

One other thing to remember is regardless of the colour (OD or grey), since the Oriskany and Forrestal fires during the Vietnam war, USN/USMC bombs aboard carriers were given a thermal resistant coating ('gator skins') to delay their 'cook-off' in the event of a fire. The coating may not be that prominent in 1/72 but would be noticeable in 1/48 and larger scales. The presence of this coating is signified by the dual yellow bands (on HE rounds) although this coating would obviously not  be required on inert rounds.

 

The double yellow nose bands can be clearly seen in the SLUF pic provided by FINN,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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very aware of the twin or triple bands on the noses. i'm using very grainy(old) paint for the casings gives a slightly sandpaper feel and look.

The decal set has a great background piece on reasons for 2 or 3 band yellow rings.

 

1001030-10105-11-pristine.jpg

 

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