Chromate yellow, chromate green and interior green.

I have posted this question before, almost worded identically because I have always been confused. To me, chromate yellow doesn't look anything like interior green, so the question is, which is right. I forget but you may want to do a search of my past posts. I would be curipous as well if someone could clear it up once and for all.

Chromate yellow is a mustard color and chromate green is like an "apple green." I have used chromate green on the interiors of US aircraft and it looks OK after I use a dark wash on it. I think I read somewhere on the forums that some modelers will add a little black to the chromate green for US aircraft. While I can't say for sure there probably is a diiference between US and British interior green, I haven't built any British aircraft...yet.

Not sure if this is of any use...but this guy is an old buddy of mine and he has some great color charts on this page:

http://www.zoysgig.com/refer.htm

Well here's a little break down, the US used grn chromate before & during the first Years of WWII then they darkened it to Interior Grn for the cockpits and Chromate Yellow for the rest of the areas on the airframe during the mid years of WWII to the in the Fifties they went to the now color of Grey for the cockpits and Gloss White or Grey for the High Accessable areas and Chromate Yellow for the rest, as for the Brit's they have another color for their cockpit interiors during WWII and now they are Grey like the US's but they also used the Chromate Yellow too

My penny. Interior green is chromate green with some black added to cut down on reflections. Seems I read that somewhere.

Zinc chromate primer (yellow) is used to prime and/or coat aluminum. For the most part it is the only thing, at the time, that would adhere to the aluminum. It is still used today for that purpose. The Chromate green used in the wheel wells is tinted zinc chromate, as is the darker interior green.

The British used a comparable zinc chromate primer, but had their own mix for wheel wells and other interior places.

Testers Model Masters paints has the chromate green and the interior green in their line of colors. The small Testers PLA line of paints has the Zinc chromate primer color.

If I remember correctly the Model Masters line also has the WWII British interior color, but I'm not positive on that one.

rangerj

I no this...I was in the airforce. At the time was a F-4 E/G George AFB was doing the European scheme to a.... I dont remember that called....well ..it was a "gray scheme" in the 1986-87. I "helped" the painter guys for a month...You know, that sanding A/C.. Anyhoo, it was green zinc chromate.

John

QUOTE: Originally posted by rangerj If I remember correctly the Model Masters line also has the WWII British interior color, but I'm not positive on that one.

Yup. "British Interior Green"

My research has shown that wheel wells and inspection panels on WWII US planes are that "apple green" zinc chromate in the little Testors square bottle. Cockpit interiors should be Model Master Interior Green.

I'm not at all sure what the inside of a B-17 fuselage should be! I assume since it's occupied it would be the darker interior green, rather than the god-awful-to-look-at Zinc Chromate.

Stick my in here

Its my understanding that in the late 30s the Army and Navy (especially the Navy) were looking for something to coat the interior of their aircraft to retard corrosion. Yellow chromate was tried first but it was found that if painted in crew areas, it tended to induce airsickness in most people. The answer was to put green chromate where it could be seen in flight and yellow where it couldn't (wheel wells etc.).
I think that interior green (bronze green) was a laquer or enamel that the Army ordered painted in cockpit areas. As it was apparently painted over the green chromate in those areas, it was later decided (in the interests of time and money) to eliminate the interior green paint (think it was a little darker than chromate).
You might check your back FSMs. A year or two ago they ran an article on what color of paints were used where and on what aircraft.

For US WWII aircrafts, chromate green is 'apple green' or yellow-green. Chromate yellow is dark yellow or chrome yellow as in the wheel wells of late model P-47s. For British WWII a/c interior, it is the interior green which look like a dull or darkened chromate green. I don't know if this applicable to present day jets.

If you use enamel paints, just go with the Testors/Model Master colors. Green Zinc Chromate, Interior Green and Yellow Zinc Chromate. For British AC use British Interior Green. The 4 colors are very distinct from each other. The Yellow Zinc Chromate was used mainly in wheel wells and gear door interiors. Cockpit interiors were usually Interior Green but some use of Green Zinc Chromate was evident. Some AC (like late model P-47's) used yet another color, Bronze Green, for basic cockpit interiors, but I am not aware of any commercially available paint in this color.

Rick

Ah...The age old question of which is the correct color. I noticed that that someone mentioned the Zinc Green...and then of course there were others on top of those already mentioned. Dana Bell wrote an article in FSM (that date escapes me now) that adressed this very issue. As an addition. One thing Dana did point out and has pointed out in other publications, when it comes to these interior colors there is NOT really an exact match in these colors. They were made in lots and by different contractors, what may have been DuPonts interior green may not have been true for another. They were given the standard and expected come a close as the could. So too it is true that ther same paint was not always used by the aircraft builders...they used what they had on hand.

Anyway, my two cents worth. I'd encourage you to find that article that Bell wrote, you'll find it very useful.

Good luck and happy modeling
Best wishes
Steve

I have also seen the use of a color listed as "bronze green" [in some publications] as a sometimes used cockpit color.