Just don't paint it rusty as that is a big fallacy for it, as it never was in use long enough to rust during the war, only years later with no use.

Richs26. I agree with you most of the color pics I've seen not rusty at all but very muddy/dusty of constant pounding comes though the holes in the mat. The color pics very in shade and color of soil, still looking for best option for a Pacific terrain.

Oh that's cool, looking forward to seeing how this goes. 

Yeah, mud, both wet and dry, and wear spots, where the paint rubbed off and the steel was exposed.  It could be shiny, where there is frequent repeated rubbing, or darker and greyer.

Nice steel mat to put an F4U Corsair on it or maybe even an F-5 Wildcat or F-6 Hellcat.

yes thats the general idea but all the pics Ive seen of this mat its either med to dark gray on the single slabs ,well after dusting who cares..

I want to remember seeing an ancient old film where they talked about making the stuff, and it was dunked in a heated nitrided oxiide treatement tank after being stamped out.

Film was black-and-white, but, brand new, they had a gunmetal sort of color.  That nitrox finish was not very deep, and probably only meant to keep the sheets from rusting in storage and transit.

Crushed coral could be a ton of colors, from yellow sand to orange, to brown.

Reventments/aprons/parking areas probably did not get as much subgrade prep as a runway, but they are going to be on serious substrate, locked-togehter sharp stone and highly compacted.  There was probably some creep/overlap from native topsoils at the edges.

Now, mind, after expending endless mounts of green on the aircraft, a modeler coul probably be excused for using a bunch of red and orange and the like, just for vive l'difference.

Oh Boy!

     I never thought of that stuff till you mentioned this. I had bought a truckload(semi) of that material from a builder in Oklahoma. Why? Well, I had a job in swampy sandy land. needed a place to put the site trailer and the fuel tanks for the employees. Marsten mats to the rescue. Believe it or not most were really not that rusty!

I have been using Alclad for years, and had never used their steel color. I used to mix my own.  What a waste of time.  I tried the Steel recently and it is great for a dark gray oiled or treated steel.  Yes, shade it with brighter marks in spots and dusty spots, but that stuff is a great base for weathered steel.