Space Shuttle Colors?

The shuttle was all over white. Looking at the photo below i think its the photo that makes it look tan. The tail cone appears to be more of a grey judging by the F-5's (F-20's?) and the NMF 747. If you look at the white down the side of the 747 its also got a slight tan sheen, but it is white.

What you are seeing is a difference in reflectance beween areas which were "tiled" and areas which were not. The nose was tiled up to approximately the line of the cargo bay doors. This can be seen in this pic. http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/S77-28210.jpg

I am of the opinion that the tiled areas were less "glossy" than the non-tiled areas.

Much of the fuselage aft of the cargo bay door line was smooth (untiled). If I recall correctly, portions of the OMS pods were tiled and other parts were not. There are sections of the upper wing surfaces which were tiled (and other sections untiled.

Not too sure what the best colours are to replicate the differences, but you may also consider using gloss/semi/gloss/flat whites to represent the differences.

The aerodynamic tail fairing shown in the post above is white.

(PS: Mike, the NASA T-38's are white with blue trim)

I kind of figured that the nose was tiled but wasn't sure if that would change the overall color.  I will have to try some different colors to see if I can replicate it to make it appear the way I see it in the photos.

Thanks