Pan Am and Braniff color questions

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hey folks, I’m working on two 707-320Bs for the 2008 Airliner Group Build (/forums/1/879808/ShowPost.aspx#879808) and I was wondering if any of you guys could help me with these color questions.

  1. Does anyone know where I can find good photos or other color data for the Braniff Jellybean jets? The Minicraft instructions list 2 Testors paint colors and one FS standard, but all other colors are just a one word description like “Ochre” or “Green.” There are a few photos on airliners.net, but I’m coming up dry otherwise. (If necessary, I’ll go with one of the three colors I have the data on, but I’d like to know what my exact choices are.)

  2. On the wings of the old Pan Am 707s, were there two different natural metal shades, or one natural metal shade and one paint shade? The Minicraft instructions list the second color as “Flat Aluminum,” but I don’t trust their color recommendations–they list the white on my Braniff jet as a gray, for instance. In the photos I’ve reviewed the Pan Am color looks like it could either be metal or gray paint/corroguard. Anybody know what’s up?

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!

2

Try this link for Braniff:

http://www.airchive.com/SITE%20PAGES/MEM-BRANIFF.html

Sorry, can’t help with the Pan Am.

stinger

3

I’d stick with CoroGuard and smile.

I found a few Braniff JB pics at airliners.net. Heres one in blue:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0166739/L/

And in Orange:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1222552/L/

4

Awesome, thanks a bunch. I found out that the green is puke inducing, that in itself was helpful! I think I have an orange handy that will match the orange…hmmmm!

5

Thanks Dahut. The thing is, the 707 I’m modeling is one that was from the first generation of jellybean jets, debuting in 1965 IIRC. Some of those same solid colors (such as the lavenderish purple and the orange) were used on the early 727 purchases by Braniff, but they also painted them a wider range of jellybean colors, including lime green and a stunning red, and added those colors to some of the 707s and (I think) DC-8s. The two-tone schemes came later and the colors used are different from the colors used on either round of jellybean schemes.

That said…I’ve GOT to do one of those two tone birds, the problem would be choosing one, because unlike some of the jellybean schemes (beige, green…ugh) they are all just gorgeous.

6

Okay, now youve gotten all complicated on me! Sounds you know more than anyone else could. Where do you learn this stuff?[:D]

I looked for “Braniff” and “707” this time and got a ton of them. Some of them look pretty jellybeany to me. Reds, blues, greens… shoot any of them would look good.

7

I’m going to go back to airliners.net and do the search again…I must have screwed it up somehow the first time because I only got about 2 pages of 707s.

8

Oops, forgot to answer your question…my wife says my head is full of useless trivia, and she’s right. I even beat my Dad (born in 1946) at Baby Boomer Trivial Pursuit once. [:D]

9

I’ve been watching this thread since my last post and did some more looking tonight. I did a search for Braniff Colors, Braniff Pantone, and Braniff color codes. I even looked on Boeing’s site for some sort of link but obviously they have better things to link to these days. Anyway, the latter search mentioned above ‘Braniff color codes’ brought me to a link with the following info:

First, here’s the link: http://www.geocities.com/~aeromoe/fleets/bn1.html

Second, this is an excerpt from that link:

BRANIFF COLOR CODES

Solid Pastel Era (1965-1971):

In 1965, Braniff introduced 8 solid pastel color schemes:
Only one aircraft, 720 N7076, was painted Lavender. It was
repainted Dark Blue one month later and the Lavender color
dropped.

BE = Beige LY = Lemon Yellow
DB = Dark Blue OC = Ochre
LB = Light (Sky) Blue OC = Orange
LV = Lavender TU = Turquoise

In the late 1960s, several new colors were added and several
dropped. The new colors were:

DB = Dark Blue (new shade) PG = Panagra Green (2 shades)
LG = Lime Green PY = Panagra Yellow
MB = Medium Blue RD = Red
OR = Orange (new shade)

Additionally, 727 N692WA had a white fuselage (W), while the two leased
720-048s (N7082 and N7083) had a bare metal belly starting about floor level.

The following colors were dropped: Dark Blue, Light Blue, Turquoise and Beige.

Two-Tone era (1971-1978):

Beginning in 1971, the pastel color scheme was replaced by a new two-tone scheme
consisting of four combinations:

BB = Blue/Light Blue OO = Orange/Ochre
GG = Green/Light Green RG = Red/Aztec Gold
CALDER = Calder Schemes

Ultra Colors Era (1978-1982):

Beginning in 1978, the two-tone scheme was replaced with a selection of “ultra”
color schemes. Only one aircraft was painted Metallic Blue (727 N426BN) and only
one aircraft was painted Sparkling Burgundy (727 N404BN).

Ultra Colors:

BM = Metallic Blue MB = Mercury Blue
BU = Burgundy PG = Perseus Green
CB = Chocolate Brown SB = Sparkling Burgundy
LB = Corvette (Light) Blue TC = Terra Cotta

747 Color Schemes:

OO = (Pastel era) Orange with white tail; white titles and orange tail logo
GR = (Pastel era) Green with white tail; white titles and green tail logo
OR = (Ultra era) Orange with cream accent stripes and titles
(1) = Bare metal fuselage; orange cheatline above windows black titles and tail logo
(2) = CP Air color scheme

NOTE: Any alpha color code in parenthesis was the INTENDED color scheme
and did not appear on the aircraft, e.g. the (GR) 747-127 N602BN.

Those airplanes with a dash in any of the color columns indicates
that scheme was not worn on that airplane.

Those colors with a dash (-) in the first position indicate it is
not known by me which variation of the indicated color was worn.

Related airlines:
Panagra

I really believe that somewhere out there exists the actual color code numbers, but where to find them I have no clue. Given that on at least one of the sites I visited, it was said that the colors faded badly, I would think that no one would ever question what color you painted your models, given that they are fairly close to begin with.

Anyway, I don’t know if the above info is of any use to you, but thought I would post it for whatever it’s worth.

Hope it helps in some way,

stinger

10

My fav braniff color scheme was the “flying colors” DC-8 by Alexander Calder.

11

That is one excellent refence for Braniff fans. Thanks for the effort!

12

I definitely plan on doing that one, and the Calder Bicentennial scheme, someday.

13

http://www.400scalehangar.net/database/search.php?category=brand&query=Aeroclassics&list=airline

Try this. The colors will be accurate.

Peewee

14

Did more searching under “Braniff Paint Codes” and found this:

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?s=5b73b4d45b993757c38b6ae792547305&showtopic=140021&pid=1255775&st=0&#entry1255775

Scroll down about seven or so posts.

stinger

15

Man, you gotta love the Internet. I posted that ARC thread! Check the avatars. I was just about to post the links and paint list from that thread over here so anyone doing a search here for Braniff colors will find it all in one place.

Thanks a ton for the 400 Scale link, that is just awesome. Between that and the testor paint code list in the ARC thread, I’m ready for anything. Looking at the 400 Scale photos of the yellow and Panagra yellow jellybeans, I think I have paint on hand for both of them, and I know I have the sky blue and dark blue.

16

OK, as I mentioned, I posted this same question on ARC, and here are some nice resources those guys came up with. I’m putting them here so that if somebody searches Finescale looking for Braniff info, they’ll find it all at once.

Here’s a gallery…not many of the planes are jellybeans, but they’re some nice shots.

http://www.braniffinternational.com/gallery-1.html

This is a list of Braniff color schemes and the Testor spray paints that match them. If you can’t get it done with this, give up now! Note that there’s a Panagra Yellow that was used on Jellybean jets, it looks to be pretty close to the Testors 1159 yellow…the real color has a bit more of a green hue to it, but it’s very, very close. (Here’s a link to a diecast painted the Panagra Yellow: http://www.400scalehangar.net/database/viewmodel.php?id=852)

Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 02:36:42 -0500
From: “Andrew Stiffler” braniff1@hotmail.com
Subject: Braniff color chart

Hello all–

With the recent questions about Braniff’s livery, I am reposting the color
chart I had devised correlating Braniff colors with Testors sprays. Most
are right on, a few are v-e-r-y close.

Matches:
(mm-model master, tr-testors racing, bd-boyd)

Original jellybean:
Beige: 2910 sand beige (mm)
Dark blue: 2940 racing blue
Light blue: 1208 blue
Lavender: 1234 purple
Lemon yellow: 52973 Remington racing yellow (tr)
Ochre: 1241 wood
Orange: 1628 Competition orange
Turquoise: 52905 Pacific blue (bd)

late 60’s modifications:
Dark blue: 2915 French blue (mm)
Lime green: Pactra racing Finish RC281
Medium blue: 1210 Gloss Bright Blue
Orange: 52920 Roadstar orange (bd)
Panagra Green: 52914 Dark green Pearl
Red: 1203 Red

Two tone’s:
Blue: 1210 Gloss bright Blue
Light blue: 1208 Blue

Green: 1224 green
light green: 52962 John Deere Motorsports Racing Dark Green (TR)

Orange: 1628 Competition Orange
Ochre (for twotone’s) 52921 Smoothster yellow (bd)

Red: 1203 red
Aztec Gold: 2917 bright yellow (MM)

Ultra 1978

Gray for underside: 1226 Dark aircraft gray

Metallic blue: 1639 Sapphire Blue metal flake
Burgundy: 2916 rubystone red
Chocolate brown: 1240 Brown
Corvette Blue: 1208 Blue
Mercury Blue: 1210 Gloss Bright Blue
Perseus Green: 2916 British Green (MM)
Sparkling Burgundy: 2905 Burgundy Red (MM)
Terra Cotta: 52908 Sunburst (bd)

747 Schemes
Orange pastel: 2970 Go Mango (MM)
Green Pastel: 52914 Dark Green Pearl (bd)
Orange Ultra: 1628 Competition Orange
Big Alcoa (N9666): Decal & 1290 Chrome

BN II

White: standard
Blue: 2902 Arctic Blue
Grey: decal

1989 Ultra

Ultra Green: (727 N460BN) 2916 british Green (MM)
Ultra Blue: (737 N464GB) 1210 Gloss Bright Blue
Ultra burgundy: (planned application 1989-90) 2916 Rubystone red

Reebok 737/SF340

Decal & 1208 Blue

BN III

Lime Green: Pactra Racing Finish RC281
Purple: 52904 Grape Pearl (bd)
Burgundy: 2916 Rubystone red
Green: 2916 British Green (MM)
Blue (N4749): 2902 Arctic Blue
Blue (N8856E): 1210 Gloss Bright Blue
Blue (N8855E, later repainted purple): 2964 grabber Blue (MM)
Red: 1203 Red
Grey: 1238 grey
Gold: Testor’s gold works, but I don’t have the # offhand
DC-9: 2902 Arctic Blue

17

I thought that was you, but didn’t think to look at the avatar.

At least I think you have your problem solved. My next suggestion was to go to the local mall and buy some Jelly Bellies to match the colors.

I’ve loved those Braniff colors since I first saw them as a kid coming in on final over our house.

Keep us posted on your Braniff builds.

stinger

18

Hey, I lived under the approach path for the JetPort in Portland, ME, which is why I have to build a Delta 727 sometime soon…I must have seen thousands of approaches by them.

19

I do believe that the colors used by the 1:400 factory guys are as accuracte as they can possibly be because the 1:400 collectors are by in large “nitpickers”. If the color is off by even a shade or two they are not affraid to let the manufacturers know about it. Their goal is to collect only museum quality models. I’ve sold 1:200 1:400 and 1:500 scale die cast for over 5 years now and have known it to be that way.

When photos are ready I would hope that you post them.

Peewee

20

PeeWee and Stinger, I will definitely post pics when I’m done. Thanks!