Just a couple of questions, do these shots represent the standard interior colours for the AC-130U Spectre Gunships? The Italieri kit recommends dark gull gray and olive drab rather than the light green interior colour I’ve seen in most reference shots I have. Are the instruction for the kit wrong?
Also, would the Spectre gunships carry vehicles such as the chopper pictured? I was thinking of adding a Hughs little bird for interest to the interior but this might be wrong for the AC-130 type.
Photo references are the best resource available to use as your paint guide. Many model makers visit museums and take pictures of aircraft and make models from them or go through the services PR department for photo’s and drawings and create the model from those. It is rare they will actually go out in the field and actually do the detail leg work. So my advice to you is use the photo’s you found as your paint guide.
With all the guns and ammo that would be in the Specter’s cargo area I cant see them fitting a helicoptor or vehicle in it unless it’s a standard C-130.
Most of the guides I’ve seen for the C-130 interior list the color as FS 33637, duck egg blue. Although it appears green, that is what it is called. In the Model Master line it is #1722. The only thing I find in the Gunze Sangyo line is H74, sky duck egg green. You could try comparing the two and see if they are close.
You might check here, too, for interior pics. I didn’t see many for the “U” but there were quite a few for the “A”.
Having worked on 130’s for several years in the USAF, I can easily tell you there is no way a Gunship could carry much of anything except cases of ammunition in the cargo area. There are numerous ammo drums located at the various gunner’s stations which take up alot of space inside the cargo hold of a Gunship. Duck Egg Blue is the correct color for interior of the gunship as well.
Thanks 90redsc , I was hoping someone here would have first-hand experince with the AC-130.
I think because the Italeri Spectre kit is an update to the transport version the interior detail is possibly incorrect and different to the reference shots of the Spectre version. It’s hard to say, but I’ll go with the grey look.
