I have a F-14A with decals for Sundowners, and the decal sheet said that the F-14 was painted Lt. Gloss Gull Gray. I look at some real pictures, and the Tomcats do not look very glossy.
When they say gloss, does that mean the sun will reflect off the paint and blind you? Also, if your building a model with a gloss finish. After you have applied the decals then sprayed on clear gloss, is that your last clear coat you need?
I believe it depends on the time period which you wish to represent.
The initial scheme was FS 16440 (Gloss Light Gull Gray) over FS 17875 gloss white undersides and control surfaces. This was used till the early 80’s.
The “intermediate” scheme from the mid-80’s was overall FS 16440 Light Gull Gray.
From the late 80’s till retirement, the TPS (Tactical Paint Scheme) was used,
FS 36320 Dark Ghost Gray - upper surfaces,
FS 35237 Medium Gray - “Side” surfaces
FS 36375 Light Ghost Gray - undersurfaces
I always thought that the US Navy aircraft of the 60s and 70s used FLAT Gull Gray for the top and Gloss white for the under surfaces. You need to have a gloss surface for decals and then overcoat with flat clear if you want a flat final finish.
Darwin, O.F. [aln]
Hi Darwin,
That is essentially correct. However, if I recall correctly (I can’t put an exact year to it) they changed over to FS 16440 Gloss Light Gull Gray in the early 70’s. The F-14 entered service in 1974, and IIRC, it wore FS 16440 at that time.
Just to confuse the question some more, my references call for FS 26440 Semi Gloss Light Gull Grey. In any case, the top sides would likely have weathered to a matte finish over time. I paint with flat, then gloss with Future for decals & washes. Final top coat with Polly Scale Satin if I want a factory fresh Bird or Polly Scale Flat if doing a more used Bird.
Regards, Rick
Thanks everyone, that clears up the mud.
the changeover date was June 1971
that is the date of MIL-C-18263F (AS)
in that Mil Spec,the color was changed from Flat Light Gull Gray to gloss,and the name was changed to Light Gray
but, not every plane was repainted right away,they were repainted on the next rotation to a repair facility
this means that some Tomcats, the prototypes and preproduction aircraft would still have been in Flat
by the first actual ship cruise of any wing with Tom’s,they would be in Gloss,Enterprises CVW-14 jets with VF-1 and VF-2 in 1975,and any cruise after that
on a model shelf, especially in 1/72, the early “dead flat” looks wrong,as does the late “high gloss”,satin or semi gloss looks better for your viewers,but, that’s just my opinion, for MY shelves, your mileage may vary
hope this helps
Rex