Military aircraft paint reference chart

Hi Burt:

I did find a few more things since I wrote that last post... Monogram aviation has a few copies of their color chip charts left. These are the same color chip pages that they use in their books. The only shortcoming is that this covers US aircraft only. I bought one from their website... I think it was $38. Pricey, but high quality. If you can't afford their books, this is the next best thing.

I bought three really neat out-of-print books that include color info. One is the IPMS color cross-reference guide by David Klauss. I picked this up on bookfinder.com for about $15, but I had to get it from overseas. The only bad thing about this book is that it has no color samples itself, but relies on the US color spec. It's not much help without it. When it was printed, the FS 595a US govt color spec was current, nowadays they use the 595B (I understand that the difference is a few new colors and numbers... the old numbers and colors are supposed to be identical between 595a and 595b, but don't quote me on that).

The Federal color spec used to be a piece of cake to get... in 1991 it cost a whopping $5.50. Now the FS595b spec costs something like $90... I should've invested in chip-chart futures. I bought a 595a from an ebay seller in Canada, but it's been a month now, and still no color spec. If you do buy the cross reference, realize that if it comes combined with the Federal color spec, it's worth A LOT more, 'cause it's a PITA to buy them separately.

Another ebay score was Markings and Camouflage Systems of Luftwaffe Aircraft  in WW2, by Karl Reiss Jr. I somehow managed to get this for $19.50, and some sellers have this same book listed with Bookfinder for $64, so I definately got lucky here. (but if you look around, other sellers have this at $20) It's a very good, though slim book, in English, 110 pages, and (of particular importance to me) includes a single page of color standards from November 1941. This is lithographed (actual paint samples would be better) but it gives me an actual look at 04 gelb yellow or 66 schwarzgrau black-grey, for example. It's one of a three-volume set.

My third ebay score was Aircraft Camouflage and Markings 1907-1954 Written and Compiled by Bruce Robertson, printed in 1959. This one I got for $4.99, with shipping it was nine bucks. Average price for this one is around $25. It's a pretty good book... lots of detail, though I suspect there might be some errors here and there. Some of these subjects have been extensively researched since this book came out. It's heavy on the Great Britain side, and a little slim on the other powers, and doesn't contain information about color shades.

There's lots of info out there if you look for it. The good thing is that most of this stuff holds its value pretty well, so you can always sell back if something doesn't meet your needs.

Hope this helps, good luck with your search, and let me know if you find anything else out about colors!

Best

BG

Excellent information BPG, thank you so much. Some of my searches on the later books on your list were hard to find. I'll have to search a little harder. If you come across anything else please let me know. Thanks

If you REALLY want to get into paints and shades, then there are a few print versions of paint color reference charts. I've been able to find four- starting with the least expensive:

Iliad Designs color charts, $8 for a single page chart of a specific area- areas available:

1. RAF Day Fighters, Northern Europe
2. Luftwaffe Early & Mid-war Fighters
3. USAAF & USN WW II Training Aircraft
4. Fleet Air Arm - WW II Royal Navy Aircraft
5. Polish Air Force - 1930s and 1939 Campaign
6. US Navy WW II Carrier Aircraft
7. RAF Tropical/Desert Colours
8. USAAF, European Theater
9. Condor Legion Aircraft
10. French Air Force, WW II
11. Luftwaffe, Desert/Mediterranean
12. Japanese Naval Air Force
13. USAAF Photo Recon

Monogram Official US Air Force colors, 1908-1993, $30 (just ordered this one myself)

Eagle Editions Luftwaffe Color Chart, $35

M&M Models Military Aircraft Color Guide (by Frank Tiano Enterprises) $38

Federal Standard color book 595B- $60

There are some color chips in the back of Monogram's books- their Painting Guide to  German Aircraft is a classic, but it's over $100. I have a copy of their USAF color guide, I got mine for around $50. Their US Navy color guide (1940-1949) is available for $49.

There may be some others as well... I've tried to locate a printed sample chart form the paint manufacturers, but they are apparently not done anymore or not widely available. (When I asked at our hobby shop, all I got was a blank stare from the teenager working there.) Humbrol publishes a "Color System Binder" for $49 that includes mixing information. I couldn't find anything from Polly Scale, Model Master, or Tamiya. If anyone knows of any other sources, I'd love to know about them.

Hope this helps- BPG.

Centurion wrote:

So is there such a thing as a military aircraft paint reference chart that I could go by when painting my aircraft and using model paints? I want to make my models look as historically correct as possible and so finding some kind of guide that tells you if you are painting an F9F that the blue on the original aircraft is model paint number xxx of brand name xxx. Does this exist? Thanks

I'm not going to say it's a definitive reference, but it can be a useful general guide.

http://www.jpsmodell.de/dc/luft_e.htm

in combination with

http://ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_fs.htm

as previously posted.

Burt,
In that book you will also find some modern jet info. F-86, F-4 and F-14. It's really an informative book.

Dean

Thanks a bunch. I just bought...can't wait to read up on it.

So it sounds like this is old school aircraft. I wonder if there are others that show some modern stuff as well?

I was mistaken in the title,,,it actually should be"Modeling Classic Combat Aircraft" has a P-51 on the cover

Is that the exact name of the book? I tried going to their site but it is not showing up. Did you find this on the FSM site or the publishers site? Thanks

Kalmbach Publishing(parent of FSM) has in thier book "Modeling Scale Aircraft" several sections on what goes where and when....I can't scan it and post it because of Copyrights,but I would say get yourself a copy of that,it has a lot of great tips and research info

That is a good start. Thank you. So do you think there is something that tells about specific aircraft? For example, if you are painting a xxx aircraft and you wanted to know what the exterior finish was, is there a way to find that out or is this the biggest question on everyones mind when modeling? I know the model instrcutions give you colors but those are not always accurate from what I'v heard. Like if an f-14 uses xxx type of paint on the real aircraft is there a way to cross reference that into a model color? Or is that what you were showing me on that site and I'm not using it correctly? Thanks again.

Centurion you might want to have a look around this site http://ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_fs.htm You may have to search your way around but it may help.