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Help needed for WWI and Interwar Aircraft Colors


trucolorpaint

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Tru-Color Paint would like to enlist the help of modelers of WWI and Interwar period aircraft for the correct colors we should develop for this era. In particular we need help with accurate colors for French and German WWI Bi-Planes plus the linen colors for British WWI planes. Note that we already have 2 PC-10 Olive Drab colors and a PC-12 color for British aircraft.

 

Between the wars, we believe planes' colors were made simpler without the need for camouflage colors. Is this a correct assumption ? Regardless of the answer, what colors were planes in this era painted ?

 

Any help modelers can give us would be appreciated. If someone has data we can use for color matching, that would be great. We pride ourselves on making an accurate product and although other manufacturers may have colors in their line that are supposedly correct for this period, there is no guarantee they are right. If we get corroboration by experts in this field that xyz company makes the correct French Dope Yellow, then that is what we will match.

 

If anyone is willing to help us, our color lab will make 2-6 samples of colors to send them to see what is the correct match for the target color we are trying to match in their opinion. If we are close it would help to know which sample is best and a suggestion on what to add to "tweak" the color in the right direction. Anyone care to join us in this venture ?

 

Martin Cohen, PhD

Tru-Color Paint

P.O. Box 74524

Phoenix, AZ 85087-4524

 

714-488-9779

 

PS - We realize little or no color standards existed in this time period, but if any colors of old match U.S. 595 (A,B or C), British, RAL, ANA or other "modern" standards, let us know that too.

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With your permission, I'll post your message on Hyperscale and the WW I Modelers mailing list. There are a lot of knowledgeable modelers on both forums.

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  • 1 month later...

I'd like to see you take a look at USAAC pre war Blue #23 and Orange Yellow #4. I don't think anybody has picked these up since the demise of the two PollyScale paints. I would think that these two colors would carry a fair amount of demand over a wide variety of subjects. I think it's one of my all time very favorite color schemes for airplanes of a bygone era.

 

Rick L.

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I would love to see you do the Pollyscale Oily Black that I still have a few bottles of. Once they are gone though, it'll be impossible to replace them. That color is perfect for washes as well as painting undersides/chassis of vehicles.

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Yes, USAAC light blue #23 (the first light blue 23 - almost a turquoise) and the orange-yellow #4 would be great additions. Also, you might want to go with Olive Drab #22. It was used extensively from the 1920's thru the mid to late 1930s.

 

Looking at your WWII listing, it appears you have the Olive Drab covered, but I did not see any reference to Medium Green 42 or Neutral Gray 43. You may already have them covered under another name. As you say, there are other colors out there, but IMHO, they are not extremely accurate.

 

The Official Monogram US Army Air Service and Air Corps Aircraft Color Guide Vol 1 1908-1941 by Robert D. Archer contains all these colors and many more on a large page of color chips. Just how accurate they are, I cannot vouch for, but for many years they have been the go-to reference for the between the wars color by many people.

 

Another color would be a duplication of Floquil Weathered Black. I use it all the time for tires and de-icer boots.

 

Thank you for your efforts to fill some very big holes that were either (a) never filled or (b ) filled but the paints are no longer in production.

Edited by MarkYoungCrewChief
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