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USAF SEA Vietnam camo shades


binbrook87

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I'm just reading F-4 Phantom by Tim Mclleland (some phabulous photos in there) and interestingly in there they refer to FS34064 as the dark green used on an F-4C in SEA camo during 1976. This is the first time I've heard of this shade rather than the FS34079 which I thought was the norm? Would / could this also explain the differences seen?

Edited by binbrook87
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I love this stuff, the mysteries never end do they?

 

it might help to note some of the manufacturers were working to their own colour plans too.

 

I made a Shorts C-23A Sherpa from scratch after taking a whole roll of photographs of it at Fairford

 

This is a photo that made me stop and think during the painting process, I tested all the greens in my collection, greys too and set about painting the model to match the photo, which was when I noticed the dark green panel on the door and emergency escape doors.

 

buildboard4doorpaintpropspinner.jpg

 

It became obvious that the factory interpretation of Europe 1 scheme was somewhat different to the USAF stores department's version.

 

The airframe had lots of the darkest green areas touched up in service with a totally different colour which matches other Europe 1 schemes in service

 

A shot of my  colour board during the paint job shows it.

sherpabuild02-July-018.jpg

 

No wonder I love these threads.

 

I present you "Three greens and a gray"

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1 hour ago, perdu said:

I love this stuff, the mysteries never end do they?

 

it might help to note some of the manufacturers were working to their own colour plans too.

 

I made a Shorts C-23A Sherpa from scratch after taking a whole roll of photographs of it at Fairford

 

This is a photo that made me stop and think during the painting process, I tested all the greens in my collection, greys too and set about painting the model to match the photo, which was when I noticed the dark green panel on the door and emergency escape doors.

 

buildboard4doorpaintpropspinner.jpg

 

It became obvious that the factory interpretation of European 1 scheme was somewhat different to the USAF stores department's version.

 

The airframe had lots of the darkest green areas touched up in service with a totally different colour which matches other European 1 schemes in service

 

A shot of my  colour board during the paint job shows it.

sherpabuild02-July-018.jpg

 

No wonder I love these threads.

 

I present you "Three greens and a gray"

That's great! I do remember the C-23 in 'Euro 1' and how different they were. The C-141, C-130 and C-5 all had similar variations in the greens from a 'Kermit' to almost black. I think it was supposed to be FS34092 which was a bright green (like the door on the Sherpa) but looks like they used something completely different.

Edited by binbrook87
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I remember visiting Lakenheath back in the days when they were operating F-111F's and they were having an exercise with about 10 airplanes taking off one after the other. Most were in the " Normal" Vietnam camo, but one aircraft has substituted the usual green 34079 with what can best be described as like Luftwaffe schwartzgrun !so stood out like a sore thumb !

I guess this proves the exception to the rule  🙂

Edited by Starfighter
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On 7/18/2022 at 4:43 PM, Finn said:

Here is one in 3 shades of green and 2 shade of tan:

 

6c7c5ce772935769_large

 

Jari

Can see three shades of green, one appearing to be a fresh coat of the lighter green. Can only see one tan. In any event, that’s the way the looked at Pleiku AFB in 1968. Quite different from most “authentic colors”.

 

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Came across this link on Hyperscale earlier in the week to a 212 page  PDF download for Fundekals latest release of full factory stencilling for a variety of F-4 variants which includes several pages of information and illustrations of SEA camo and its durability when applied to the Phantom . . . . .   https://fundekals.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FD48038-Inst.pdf

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1 hour ago, Des said:

Came across this link on Hyperscale earlier in the week to a 212 page  PDF download for Fundekals latest release of full factory stencilling for a variety of F-4 variants which includes several pages of information and illustrations of SEA camo and its durability when applied to the Phantom . . . . .   https://fundekals.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FD48038-Inst.pdf

Wow! Now that is a work of art, such amazing attention to detail and fascinating info on the SEA camo schemes. Thank you 👍

Edited by binbrook87
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20 hours ago, Des said:

Came across this link on Hyperscale earlier in the week to a 212 page  PDF download for Fundekals latest release of full factory stencilling for a variety of F-4 variants which includes several pages of information and illustrations of SEA camo and its durability when applied to the Phantom . . . . .   https://fundekals.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FD48038-Inst.pdf

Downloaded - that looks impressive! Thanks for sharing!

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3 hours ago, 11bravo said:

A favorite subject of mine.  I'm currently building this one in 32nd,  How many different colors do you see here?

2Kcls4d.jpg

Also note the grey "last three" on the tail.

That's a great subject....plenty of mix n match on that one! 

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On 7/18/2022 at 6:13 PM, perdu said:

I present you "Three greens and a gray"

And a patch of brown (lower left pic in the corner)

 

And for SEA schemes: there's the sickly puke-green discoloured tan as variable.

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I think the brown was where the printed photograph had a small splosh of chemical n it.

The other right side shots don't show the same (dis)colouration.

 

These pictures had been developed and kept in the envelope for thirty years before I placed them on the build's colour board.

 

But it is a nice brown innit? 😃

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On 7/20/2022 at 10:00 PM, Des said:

Came across this link on Hyperscale earlier in the week to a 212 page  PDF download for Fundekals latest release of full factory stencilling for a variety of F-4 variants which includes several pages of information and illustrations of SEA camo and its durability when applied to the Phantom . . . . .   https://fundekals.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FD48038-Inst.pdf

Wow - thanks for sharing this, it's an amazing piece of research. Having just completed an Eduard USN Phantom with full stencil set, I did wonder what they were all for, how they were applied, WHY there were applied, and how many of them would have been painted over during maintenance.

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On 7/29/2022 at 12:18 PM, Blimpyboy said:

There's always a spiffy, recently-repainted bird...

Nice! I wonder if the Tan is FS30400 instead of FS30219, like on the F-102.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

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1 hour ago, Hook said:

Nice! I wonder if the Tan is FS30400 instead of FS30219, like on the F-102.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

 

Hi Andre

 

It does not seem likely.  The Vietnam tan shade was seen in a rainbow of different colors over the years.  All of the USAF technical orders demand FS 30219 and none of the copies in my library say anything about FS 30400 except for the ‘Asia Minor’ camouflage found on exported aircraft in Iran.  I think the Vietnam tan is probably the most highly variable color the USAF has ever used.

 

Best wishes!

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Unfortunately, even the mighty Photoshop is not god-like!  Photoshop does not contain reference for the American FS595 color.  It is only with historical research when you can determine the color.

 

I recently discovered the Fündekals F-4 Phantom ‘factory stencils’ decal and the amazing 212 pages long PDF instruction book accompanying to it.  It has a lot of excellent information. My bank account and my wife are not happy!


Best wishes!

Edited by Lusitanian
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On 8/4/2022 at 3:54 AM, Sierra Mike Sierra said:

Great stuff! Would probably qualify as a doctoral dissertation.

If you are a fanatic on those early F-4's, I'd also highly recommend Fundekals Wolfpack decal set for early "Operation Bolo" Phantoms.   An amazing amount of info on these jets is crammed into the instructions.  

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15 hours ago, 11bravo said:

If you are a fanatic on those early F-4's, I'd also highly recommend Fundekals Wolfpack decal set for early "Operation Bolo" Phantoms.   An amazing amount of info on these jets is crammed into the instructions.  

 

That is another reason for my wife's unhappy mood!

 

Best wishes

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