Hi Guys/Gals
I’m trying to find out just what color and brand can I use to
paint the fuselage on my newly bought Stearman PT-17 ?
What brand & color did you use to paint the fuselage?
There are all kinds of blues out there. Very confusing for a new
model builder like me.
Please help me out [:D[[]
I have wondered about this myself.
My dad’s favorite plane was a P-26 in bright blue. This would be the same color as the PT-17. First of all it would be a gloss—for scale gloss I am using eggshell leaning toward gloss.
The color would not be a dark blue but medium to light blue—and a true blue without any other color added. The Tamiya and Gunze paints don’t have a true blue—its more of a purpulish (greenish?) color. The only color I’ve seen that would come close is good old Testors enamel in the little bottles----been around since the 1960s. Poor quality paint but the only color that seems right. 1110 and 1108 for light blue and blue.
The color should be a medium to light shade and be very brilliant. So hard to do when we’ve been doing camo darks and greys for so many years!
Maybe someone could add to this??
What does the kit instruction guide designate? That should be your clue.
I took a quick look at my Stearman instruction guide and the blue you need is the plain old Gloss Blue.
Vallejo Game Air " Magic Blue" is the color I have set aside for my PT-17. For the yellow, Vallejo Game Air “Sun Yellow” seems like a good choice to me.
Good paints that spray well and look like the right colors. That’s my .02
It should be true blue and orange / yellow. Polly Scale used to make the right colors, but Testors killed off Poly Scale a few years ago.
Chrome Yellow / School Bus Yellow works for the wings. Not sure of a specific paint for the blue but it should be a medium blue similar to the color of many brands of blue masking tape.
Folks, don’t sweat the color specs. Use what looks good to you.
Ha! I never sweat the color specifics lol!!
Magic Blue and Sun Yellow look good to me. 
Depends on the date. Early in the life of the Stearman, the AAF used a light blue but changed later to a medium blue (Testors just plain blue is good for this). In fact, later in its career the AF switched to an all aluminum paint.
LOL! Easy said than done. I usually don’t but try finding the colors that comes close when doing a Mitsubishi F-2 JASDF Sea Camouflage scheme. Look at the photos of them. The light blue on the F-2 is a unique shade. So is the nose radome. Gull grey would be a “close“ match as Hasegawa kit call out for Radome Grey.
Found the dark blue that is a match but the intermediate blue is an entirely different matter. Bought Gunze Intermediate blue and found it’s not even close (a little bit darker light blue). All other brands of intermediate blues were either too dark, too grey, etc… After a little researching, I find out modern Japanese aircraft don’t use U.S. Federal Standard colors. Their colors are unique shades not found anywhere - even their armor and ship color call outs.
I finally found a paint set in a Japan website (Plaza Japan) and ordered it. They got the colors I’ve been looking for - Gunze JASDF Oceanic Camouflage Paint set. Perfect!
Hi Schooner. I’ve recently done Stearmans in both 1/72 and 1/48, and I used Model Master True Blue FS15102 and Chrome Yellow FS13538. That did the trick to my eye. Model Master is getting a bit hard to find these days though.
Good luck and post pics of your build!
Their enamels are but not their acrylic lines.
Lots of Stearmans are in privat hands. Paint it as you like it. “Google image” is your friend [:)]