P&W R-2800 radial colour?

[smuts]

Hi guys, should the cylinder banks on the 2800 radial engine be sprayed semi gloss black or left a dark steel colour?.

Thanks Andy.

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Hi guys, should the cylinder banks on the 2800 radial engine be sprayed semi gloss black or left a dark steel colour?.

Thanks Andy.

Hi Andy - neither....

http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q...sa=N&tab=wi

Jonners

[greatgonzo]

Depends on what You mean by dark steel. It was a natural alloy color.

I would rather be careful with following the colors of the display engines by the way. Also those used for test or staff training in the period. The photographs of operational aircrafts show P&W gear cases in quite dark shade in most all occasions when readable at all.

Edited June 6, 2010 by greatgonzo

[Don McIntyre]

I usually paint my radials with ModelMaster Steel (right out of the bottle), then give them multiple washes with Tamiya Smoke.

Hasegawa 1/48 P-47D:

Hasegawa F6F-5:

HTH

[Prop Duster]

Depends on what You mean by dark steel. It was a natural alloy color.

I would rather be careful with following the colors of the display engines by the way. Also those used for test or staff training in the period. The photographs of operational aircrafts show P&W gear cases in quite dark shade in most all occasions when readable at all.

What he said.

Though, your scale and the amount of "use" your aircraft has/had would also be factors to consider.

Don McIntyre: Nothing too shabby about your work, eather- nice to see.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Prop Duster

[Giorgio N]

As said before they were in natural metal. Of course with the use they tend to get dirty. I use the same system Don has used on his engines (those two look very good !): a steel colour first, then do a couple of washes in very dark grey or black. Sometimes I also drybrush the cooling fins with silver.

Mind that I know modellers that do the opposite: they paint the whole engine in black, then drybrush with progressively lighter metal color.

Regarding the case, I always use FS 16081 engine grey or a similar dar grey colour.

[Don McIntyre]

What he said.

Though, your scale and the amount of "use" your aircraft has/had would also be factors to consider.

Don McIntyre: Nothing too shabby about your work, eather- nice to see.

Thank you for the kind comment, Steve.

[greatgonzo]

Since it is OK to share

[robw_uk]

just started painting the PW2800 in the Hellcat... having looked at various WIP of models with this type of engine I have gone with a dark aluminium (Humbrol Aluminium + Black) then will dry brush neat aluminium to highlught details.... not scientific but as I amnot opening the hatch it can only be seen from the front so hoping it looks good.....

[Steve N]

Sounds like a good plan to me. One tip..the pushrods on a WWII P&W engine should be black. Restored warbirds sometimes feature bare metal or even chrome-plated ones. Also, if you're adding spart plug wires, they should be a dull brass or copper color (the real ones have a braided metal sheath)..not bright red as I've seen on some models. Greatgonzo's photos pretty much nail the correct colors.

SN