1950s H-34 paint color

Choctaw wrote:

I flew in an Army H-34A helicopter and I'm building an Italeri 1/72 kit (Italeri # 1066 UH-34J Sea Horse) that I hope to be able to decorate so that it is a copy of my ship..  My problem is with the suggested fuselage color.  The kit suggests Model Masters Olive drab, which is fine for some of the ships in my unit (4th Transportation Co. out of Lawson Field, Ft. Benning , GA.,) but only a few were colored in the flat olive drab that the kit suggests.  My ship #54-891 had a semi gloss paint job that was browner than the regular dull olive drab ships.. The color on the photo of the Marine ship on the Italeri box is very close to the color of my ship, but I can't find an existing paint color that matches.  I prefer a spray can, since I don't have an air brush, but I also need to do tiny brushed-on spots like the windshield framework.. My local hobby shop suggested Model Masters US Army Field Drab or Tamiya USAF Green, neither of which even come close.  My ship was olive drab, but with a very brown semi gloss tone. Does anyone have any suggestions, especially anyone who flew in these late '50s ships, as to what I can do to match the color of my ship? Thanks for any help. John Wood crew chief of 54-891 1956-1957

Believe it or not, a color that matches almost exactly the shade of O.D. paint used on Viet Nam era U.S. Army aircraft is Testor's Modelmasters RAL 7008 1941 Afrika Khakibraun, #2098.

Yeah, it is supposed to be for German Armor, but the shade is closer to the O.D. on the Army aicraft that I worked on than anything else out there. Just give it a gloss coat for hi viz markings and use flat for the subdued markings.

HTH

Jonathan Primm