Which paints are the best interior greens?

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

I have a 1942 Texan (Revell-Monogram) and plan to get P-51D soon. Can anyone direct me to the correct interior greens for cockpits and flaps, landing gear bays etc.?

Thanks a lot.

Vivian

2

http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_US_Navy_USAAF_USMC_USAF_127.html

3

Model Master Interior Green FS 34151.

Regards, Rick

4

Agreed on the Model Master.

I picked up a bottle of Vallejo Camo Light Green, which is supposedly an FS match. Looks a lot more green-green though, if you take my meaning.

The Lifecolor interior green isn’t bad. A bit on the lightish side. I’ve also had nothing but terrible luck airbrushing LC.

Haven’t checked out WE or Gunze interior green yet…but this seems like one color where I can’t jump ship to Vallejo or Tamiya without mixing.

5

I haven’t found an int. green that I like, so I mix my own. Some Olive Drab and yellow zinc chromate, not sure of the ratio, I just start with OD and add the zinc til it looks close enough.

6

Just find one you like, if you do a search you will find green and yellow zinc chromate, and other interior greens have a lot of controversy around them. There wasn’t really a true standard, Bell’s interior green was different, from Curtiss, Republic, Boeing etc. There is even debate about where it was used depending on date and actual manufacturer (for those aircraft built by multiple companies).

Research is great but at some point you have to just pick a color you like and feel comfortable with. This goes for most WW2 colors, since most color matching is really guestimation done with old samples exposed to weather, memory of pilots / ground crews, B&W photos, color photos notorious for some dramatic color shifts and restorations (generally researched the same ways and sometime proven to be way off).

7

Nearly every paint maker (except Tamiya) has the basic US interior green in their color line up- Acrylic and Enamel. Pick your favorite. That being said- there were also many other colors used during the war in US aircraft cockpits- Bronze Green, Dull Dark Green, Black, and Olive Drab, were also used in cockpits.

Have a look at this very informative article

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/01/stuff_eng_interior_colours_us.htm

8

Modelmaster Enamel Zinc Chromate Green and Testor’s Enamel Zinc Chromate Yellow are my favorites… US aircraft had a mix of both colors applied… Usually the green went into cockpits, and the yellow on interior surfaces like gunbay doors, landing gear wells and doors, inside skin panels, etc… But always check your refs for which went where and if they were used at all on some aircraft, especially WW2 Navy birds… Couple good sites here:

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/01/stuff_eng_interior_colours_us.htm

http://www.colorserver.net/history/history-zinc-chromate.htm

9

Here’s a few T-6/SNJ-5 reffs. They’re from a restored bird that nests at my airport. There’s a few interior shots in there too.

http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu340/fermisb/Ref%20pics/SNJ-5/

10

Wise words and well said.

Now if only if we could get the people to listen[;)]

11

I would go with Model Master interior green. You might want to mix a little flat black with it in a seperate container to darken it a little bit before painting.Many years ago I was working for a man who was on B-29s during the Korean war and he told me that thay used to darken the green that way. I tried it and found it looks fantastic.

12

[quote user=“stikpusher”]

"Nearly every paint maker (except Tamiya) has the basic US interior green "

Tamiyas XF-5 is pretty darn close to FS 34151 Interior green...Im sure someone will see a difference between them but I really cant. Wasnt there an FSM issue that dealt specifically with interior colors? Pretty sure they broke it down to the who, what ,where and when an interior color was used…or not!

Len