Can anyone tell me what the standard colors are for an f-15? I’m doing academy’s 1/72, which appears to be some sort of nat’l guard or something. Thanks in advance.
Dark grey upper surfaces, light grey lower surfaces, as far as I know.
What MM colors are those? Just Light and Dark Ghost Grey?
The current scheme is called the Mod Eagle scheme and is overall FS36251 Medium Gray (called Aggressor Gray in the Model Master line) with FS36176 Dark Gray (called F-15 Gray in the Model Master line) patches on the upper surfaces that are symmetrical in pattern. Basically it is the old Compass Ghost Gray scheme, in different colors. AFAIK, all F-15C/D’s and MSIP Eagles serving in the USAF and ANG carry this scheme.
The older Compass Ghost scheme was overall FS36375 Light Ghost Gray with FS36320 Dark Ghost Gray patches on the upper surfaces. The Israelis still use this paint scheme on the F-15A/B/C/D’s.
Current scheme;
http://www.jpsmodell.de/dc/shemes/f15mod.jpg
Older Compass Ghost Gray scheme;
http://www.jpsmodell.de/dc/shemes/f15ghost.jpg
EDIT: Forgot to mention, if you are building an F-15E Strike Eagle, the color would be overall FS36118 Gunship Gray (as mentioned below). Otherwise the above information is pertinent to the fighter variants.
As mentioned above, Model Master has all these colors in their line.
HTH,
I used overall Gunship Grey, and Euro 1 gray for the radome.
Thanks.
I’ve been doing a lot of digging on the F-15C colors recently because I’m building one. FS36251 is the correct base color however it is way too dark right out of the bottle. Take a look at these three images on Airliners.Net:
First Photo - Looks almost olive drab
Second Photo - Almost a brownish color
Third Photo - Same plane, same day as photo two but look at the difference in coloration.
(Note that per Airliners.Net acceptable use it is OK to link to photos on their site but NOT to post them anywhere without their explicit permission)
All three of these photos are of the same airplane (78-0496) and taken two days apart.
I’ve got a gentleman helping me with mine who flew F-15’s in the 44th TFS out of Kadena (which is the squadron these photos are from). He said that somewhere between the color of the second two photos is what he looked at every day so that’s what I’m shooting for. So far the closest I’ve come is FS36251 (Aggressor Gray) lightened with 40% FS36375 (Light Ghost Gray)
Hey MC,
You also have to factor in the time of day, sun position, clouds and so on. This will definitely have an effect on the colours and how it will look to the naked eye.
With looking at the first pix, the 15 looks to be going on its back, so the colour will change and the second two photos look to be some what the same position except the last one looks a bit lighter and appears to be closer to the photographer.
I have family who fly for Uncle Sam as well and when you look at their a/c, the paint will differ with the conditions mentioned above.
Flaps up, Mike
You’re right, Mike. I should have elaborated a bit more because that was my point. The SAME jet from different angles and lighting conditions looks completely different. Not different shades of the same color as you’d expect, but completely different colors. I think this is one of those colors where there is no true “Right” or “Wrong”. As long as you get within a range it will be fine because nobody can say it’s right or wrong.
Also, if anyone else is building the Tamiya F-15C and plans on using the 44th squadron decals they are wrong. As can be seen in the photos the “Ghost” numbers (tail number, “ZZ”, etc.) should be the same color as the lighter base color. Tamiya printed them almost black. I didn’t notice that myself. The guy I mentioned who flew them is also building the Tamiya kit and pointed it out to me.
Anytime Scott…!!! I’m sure you would do the same for me[;)][:p] So I take it that your doing the 32nd tamiya build?? If so how is it so far? I have one of them in my stash and it keeps calling out my name LOL[:p]
Flaps up, Mike
Count on it, buddy!
Yep, that’s the one I’m building. It’s a good kit but I haven’t done a lot on it yet. The cockpit, nose gear, cans, and intakes, are done and so far the only snag I’ve run into are the afterburners. They are in two pieces with ribs around the circumference. Making them look right is going to be a real pain. Photos of what I’ve done so far are on my site at This Link and you can see what I mean about the burners if you scroll down toward the bottom of the page.