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F100D Wheel Wells/Airbrake Bay Colour


Wez

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I'm doing a Super Sabre for the Vietnam GB and I'm wondering about the wheel well and airbrake bay colours - and for that matter the interiors of the undercarriage doors and the airbrake itself.

I think when the aircraft were in bare metal these areas were interior green, by the time these aircraft appeared in the SEA scheme they were painted light grey however I've seen some that were silver.

Some of the pictures I've seen show silver in these areas on silver finished aircraft but it's difficult to see whether these are painted silver or natural metal aircraft.

Did the silver finish in these areas coincide with the the change over to silver paint, was there a slight delay between silver painted exteriors and green interiors or have I got it COMPLETELY wrong?

What do you know good people?

Wez - who's more than happy to be put right on this!

Edited by Wez
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The wheel wells and speed brake well were almost always a darkish Interior Green, regardless of the exterior finish. I've found the Medium Green from the Vietnam camouflage scheme to be a good match with the wells of several unrestored F-100s I've poked my head into. That's not to say some might have had their wells sprayed light grey when they were camouflaged in SEA, but that would have been up to the guy with the paint gun.

The gear struts and insides of the gear doors and speed brake were silver.

HTH.

Ben

Edited by Ben Brown
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The wheel wells and speed brake well were almost always a darkish Interior Green, regardless of the exterior finish. I've found the Medium Green from the Vietnam camouflage scheme to be a good match with the wells of several unrestored F-100s I've poked my head into. That's not to say some might have had their wells sprayed light grey when they were camouflaged in SEA, but that would have been up to the guy with the paint gun.

The gear struts and insides of the gear doors and speed brake were silver.

HTH.

Ben

Ben,

Just the gen I needed, thanks for your response.

Wez

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The wheel wells and speed brake well were almost always a darkish Interior Green, regardless of the exterior finish. I've found the Medium Green from the Vietnam camouflage scheme to be a good match with the wells of several unrestored F-100s I've poked my head into. That's not to say some might have had their wells sprayed light grey when they were camouflaged in SEA, but that would have been up to the guy with the paint gun.

The gear struts and insides of the gear doors and speed brake were silver.

HTH.

Ben

Wez,

I was going to put exactly the same but Ben beat me to it. All I'll add is - "also includes the ex French aircraft at Sculthorpe in the seventies"

DR

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Wez,

I was going to put exactly the same but Ben beat me to it. All I'll add is - "also includes the ex French aircraft at Sculthorpe in the seventies"

DR

Thanks, it's nice to have further confirmation.

Wez

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I took these photos of a F-100F some years ago in a German museum (don't recall which one - sorry). To the best of my judgement it retains its original colors.

HTH

Bjarne

Bjarne,

Thanks for posting those photos - immensely helpful!

Wez

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Great photos, Bjarne! That's the green I was thinking of, although it seems to be a little closer to USAF Europe 1 Green, doesn't it? You can also see a little green zinc chromate through the hole near the main gear strut in the second photo.

Cheers!

Ben

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