Yiannis Mitzas

Aircraft Colors and Camouflage, US Army Air ForceNight Fighters (1943-45)

The USAAF began equipping with night fighters like the P-61 as well as converted versions of the P-38 and A-20 (known as P-70) in the second half of the war. These were finished in the typical scheme of Olive Drab No. 41/ANA 613 over Neutral Gray No. 43/ANA 603 which was maintained even after the 30 October 1943 order of leaving most combat aircraft unpainted at the factory. Later, experiments were undertaken to provide a suitable gloss black paint for night operations which resulted in Jet ANA 622, which was only added to the ANA system on 26 April 1944 although it began to be used in January of that year. Despite being gloss, it was often applied without a primer (notably by Northrop which built the P-61) and tended to both fade and look matt after extensive use. It was not uncommon for many P-61s to paint their radomes Insignia White No. 46/ANA 601 and being of a different material than the fuselage, frequently showed different patterns of fading.

Aeroplane:

P-38 Lightning

P-61 Black Widow

A-20G Havoc

Paint guide:

Insignia White ANA 601: Only Colourcoats (ACUS37) and Mr. Paint (MRP-135) have specific ANA 601 matches, but any match to post-war FS 17875 is close enough.Jet ANA 622: Despite being a gloss paint, ANA 622 should definitely look matt for an aircraft in combat. Mr. Paint is the only range which carries ANA 622 (MRP-137) but any lightened black or black/gray should suffice.

https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/AAF-Night/index.html

https://www.tinker.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3434393/a-look-back-olive-drab-haze-blue-and-jet-black-the-problem-of-aircraft-camoufla/