RE: Jet Afterburner Can

Depends on the aircraft and engine. The J-79's in an F-4 Phantom, for example, blow black sooty smoke everywhere so they are primarily black over some sort of metallic (stainless steel, titanium, etc.). The F-100's in an F-15, on the other hand, cause the burner cans to be a very light gray (almost white).

The outside is various colors because of the heat. This is the can on an F-4C:


and here is an early F-15A with "Turkey Feathers" (although for some reason half of them are missing)

Sent this to you in an email but here 'tis again:

The Hornet has a sort of white-ish exhaust. Here is a good picture of inside one: http://s96920072.onlinehome.us/AWA1/501-600/walk565_F-18_Lu/06.jpg

that came from Aircraft Resource Center at this link:
http://s96920072.onlinehome.us/walk-jet.htm

ARC has walkarounds of all kinds of jets and it's the first place I go when I'm trying to find some information. Most of them show a ton of detail, and it's a great resource for modelers.

I used the pic that MusicCity has posted.I used Buff Color from Model Master Acrylics.I plan to make a wash of it and use it the recesses (sp?) of the can liner.So far without the wash, it looks close to what the pic is.Good luck.