I want to build the Academy I-16 “Mosca (Fly)” as the Spanish flyboys called it, in Republican livery because I really like that big rudder painted in three large red, yellow, and purple stripes and the Popeye mascot. Question is, what is main color for these? Kit recommends red outer wing surfaces and a wide red stripe with entire a/c painted FS 34102 (a medium green?) and light blue FS 35550. Are these accurate. I’m guessing those colors came on the a/c when the Russians delivered them and I don’t know FS or model paint equivalents for early Russian aircraft. Can anyone help?
Tom
ModelMaster Russian Top Side Green & Underside Blue are the colors I used. They don’t have an FS reference on the bottle so I can’t say their entirely accurate. But they would be in the right ball park.
Regards, Rick
Thanks. I think I have both of them, because I used them on my AcMin single-seat Sturmovic. At last, a paint I can get at the art supply and you guys don’t have to see another of my postings crying and ranting and cussing about lack of LHS in NYC.
Now, what about the red? I’m getting partial to MM acryl Guards Red, but the book Flying Colors and box art show something darker. Course, I’m not sure what references Academy had. I’ve learned to distrust most callouts in kits. They often use the closest restored example they can find, and with the exception of USAF and Navy Museums and, especially, Smithsonian (if you’ve ever read an account of one of their restorations, well, they strip the paint in tiny bits, one layer at a time, and chemically analyze and match paint compounds for restorations), my experience is that majority of restored aircraft are poorly researched when it comes to accurately matching paint. But then, I doubt if many paint chips from Spanish Civil War exist. Espicially for the losing side. We’ve got some Spanish readers on this site, I wonder if any of them could illuminate me on the red and cockpit colors.
Sharkskin, I’m currently working on the same kit, except I’m building Boris Safanov’s machine, hence the signature pic, and was faced with the same issues, as Russian aircraft colours are somewhat hard to come by.
I found that Lifecolour produce an exact match for the green, but the closest that I had come to the blue was RLM68, not exactly ideal. having said that the RLM 68 looks about right applied to the cockpit interior.
Are you going to use the Eduard PE set?
Best of luck with the build.
Karl
Yes, on Eduard set, but haven’t ordered it yet. Not much detail in this ex-Hobbycraft Canada kit, but its nice profile and lighthanded exterior detailing make it a fine kit, especially for adding all the detail you can document onto it. And it was cheap, too. I’m just now getting my ducks in order for when I finish this F3F-1, which shouldn’t take long. Your signature photo reminds me of something: These Russian greens we get, from callouts to actual paint, from the Model Master to some older X-traColor can I had: all the paints and FS matches we’re given are very green to more grayish shades of green, but rare color photos of Russian planes from the era and profile paintings like above show OD to Brown overall. I think you’re pretty accurate with your RLM underside blue, although I’m more familiar with RLM 65 than 68. AND, I’ve seen old photos and pix of some restorations in Russian museums showing, for example, Soviet P-39s, in an almost Willow Green, which is as green as Christmas lights. I don’t know, but I like that natural metal stripe around the cowling on these 1-16s. F3F has it too.
I looked at the Eduard, but decided I try do a kit OOB for a change. that hasn’t worked as I have removed the molded in exhausts, and am in the process of making new ones from alloy tubing. I detailed the interior with styrene strip, and a set of Eduard seat belts that I had in the spares box, as well as a cushion forf the pilot’s seat.
I was wrong earlier, it’s not RLM 65 that I used but RLM 78, the tropical blue.
Karl