Yiannis Mitzas

Introduction to US color standards 1931-1941

The first color standard in use by the US armed forces was known as Specification No. 3-1, introduced on 28 November 1919 and including a palette of 24 colors of which only one would still be in use during World War II. The earliest standard in use by the US Army Air Corps (USAAC) before the war was Specification 14057 which dated from April 1931 and had been revised numerous times since, the latest being Specification 14057-C on 27 December 1939. An updated eight-color (later nine-color) palette was introduced shortly thereafter, in Air Corps Bulletin No. 41 dated 16 September 1940 and this would include all the main colors in use when the US Army Air Force (USAAF) replaced the USAAC in June 1941. Camouflage schemes would later be specified in the Technical Order No. 07-1-1 although in many cases these were applied in an ad hoc manner by commanders in the field. The US Navy (USN) had its own color system during the early years of World War II based around the Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) Specification M-485 from 6 December 1940 which listed 6 (later 7) basic non-spectacular (matt) colors.
The need to unify color codes for the USAAF and USN (which used completely different camouflage schemes) successfully in the Army and Navy Aircraft (ANA) system, introduced on 28 September 1943. ANA Bulletin No. 157 included an initial palette of 19 mostly matt (plus a few semi-gloss) colors using a three-digit numbering system in the 600s. ANA Bulletin No. 166 added a further 15 gloss colors numbered in the 500s. A number of additional colors were later added for a total of 44. Notably, a few of these were gloss colors but were added to the 600s range. The ANA system also included numerous substitute colors for British colors, necessary in light of the large number of US aircraft provided to the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm through Lend-Lease.
On 12 January 1950, the US published Federal Specification TT-C-595 which superseded the ANA system with a four-digit numbering system. This was short-lived and just a few years later was superseded by the Federal Standard system, formally known as FED-STD-595. Each color palette is identified by a five-digit code. The first digit refers to the sheen of the paint, these being gloss (1), semi-gloss (2), and matt (3). The second digit refers to the color, these being brown (1), red (2), yellow (3), green (4), blue (5), gray (6), all others including whites, blacks, and metallics ( 7), and fluorescents (8). The last three digits are unique for each color and typically go from darker to lighter. The initial palette included 358 colors although some colors only officially exist in one or two out of the three sheens. Although the hues are identical regardless of sheen, there have been some notorious exceptions such as Olive Drab whose semi-gloss version used by the US Army on tanks (FS 24087) was different from the matt version used on helicopters (FS 34087), this being an error that took decades to correct.
The Federal Standard system has gone through numerous revisions, starting with FED-STD-595A in January 1968 (437 colors), FED-STD-595B in January 1994 (611 colors), and FED-STD-595C in January 2008 (650 colors ). The ANA Bulletin 157/166 continued to be updated post-war as well, until 15 October 1964 when it was discontinued in favor of the FED-STD-595. On February 17th, 2017, the Federal Standard system was replaced by the Aerospace Material Specification Standard 595, or AMS-STD-595. It is widely equivalent to the Federal Standard system and most existing colors have been carried over with identical numbers.

In the time of Peace
The aircraft carries a colorful finish to the U.S. Navy peacekeeping force, which shows the photo was taken before the U.S. joined the war, probably sometime during 1940. The aircraft’s wings are painted with Glossy orange yellow (FS 13538), the fuselage is probably painted in silver sodium and not left natural metal, as the gloss of the finish is really very matte for bare metal . This is further confirmed by the rudder covered by fabric, as it was definitely painted in silver, and there does not seem to be any tonal color difference between the rudder and the fin.
The horizontal tails are painted in glossy black. The thread also seems to be dark in color, maybe the same black, look and judge for yourself! Undoubtedly black is also a walking area in the wing. These black wings and yellow wings were typical of many Navy aircraft before the war.
The Blak US NAVY inscription appears on the back of the fuselage. There is also a small stencil on the top of the wing / rudder, which can be a serial number on the aircraft.

The national emblems are typical of pre-war US aircraft, consisting of a white star in a blue circle with an extra red dot in the middle.

If you’re building an aircraft carrier model, having the color schemes of the aircraft match the time frame of the ship’s color scheme is quite important. Although bright and colorful, you’ll never see a yellow-winged aircraft operating from a dazzle-painted Essex Class carrier. So here’s a quick overview of the principle changes to USN aircraft during the war years.

Paint guide basics:

All colors on this page include a paint chart with matches or equivalences from 19 different model paint ranges. Paints are considered matches if they are labeled with the intended color (either uniquely on together with another color). Paints are considered equivalent if they are close to the intended color but not labeled as such. The accuracy of any paint is independent of whether it is a match or an equivalence and these are described in the text (there can be poor matches and highly accurate equivalences). The following nomenclature is used in the paint tables and is based on matches or equivalences to US Insignia Red FS 11136:
Paint Match or equivalent type (label)
MP01 Labeled to match one specific color (FS 11136)
MP02 * Labeled to match more than one color of same-country standards (FS 11136 / ANA 509) *
MP03 ** Labeled to match more than one color of different-country standards (FS 11136 / BS 538)
MP04 (!) Questionable accuracy of label match (doesn’t look like FS 11136)
MP05 (?) Questionable accuracy of label match, untested (doesn’t look like FS 11136 in the bottle)
(MP06) Close equivalent to FS 11136 (BS 538)
(MP07) (?) Questionable equivalent to FS 11136 (Generic Gloss Red)
* A single asterisk also denotes implicit matches for same-country standards where there is an official succession between standards. For example, H327 * would match ANA 509 even if the label only references FS 11136 since ANA 509 is its official predecessor. This does not apply when there are considerable differences between successive paints (ex: Olive Drab No. 41 / ANA 613 / FS 34087) and this will be described in the text. By and large, however, single asterisk matches should be considered close enough to unique matches as not to be seriously questioned.
The paint charts make no distinction between gloss, semi-gloss, and matt variants of a color if the correct sheen is unavailable (ex: gloss FS 11136 will be a specific match for matt FS 31136 if the latter does not exist in the same paint range). Exceptions are made where there is a known or suspected color difference (ex: FS 24087 and 34087).

https://www.pmcn.de/English/Colors_US_Navy_1941-1945/Colors_US_Navy_1941-1945.htm

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