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Modern fighter jet production line.Primer
In the immediate post-war years, interior areas like wheel wells, wheel covers, and landing gear remained in their wartime colors, which like cockpits varied between aircraft and manufacturer. Natural metal (later specified as FS 17178 Aluminum) on landing gears predominated and it was customary to paint wheel wells and sometimes wheel covers in any variety of zinc chromate primers or interior greens (see the USAAF page for more information). Around the 1960s, interior colors including the landing gear were partially standardized at FS 17875 Insignia White with the exception of wheel wells which were to be painted FS 16473 Aircraft Gray. Notably, T.O. 1-1-4 specified both the former and standard colors for aircraft which were introduced before the change. Aircraft that were introduced from the late 1970s onwards (including all fourth-generation fighters) had their interior colors specified by their individual technical orders rather than T.O. 1-1-4. In most cases, these featured FS 17875 on all interiors including the wheel wells. A few exceptions to the above rules include the C-5 which has FS 17925 Untinted White wheel wells, and the C-130 which retains its original FS 17178 wheel wells. Additionally, the F-15 uses a metallic blue-green (turquoise) primer for many of its avionics compartments. Initially, this also included the large avionics bay behind the cockpit (on single-seaters) although this was changed to FS 17875 on aircraft ordered from fiscal year 1979 onward, with earlier aircraft eventually having them repainted after undergoing maintenance. This color is a proprietary shade developed for McDonnell Douglas and is not matched to any FED-STD color.
Paint guide: All of these colors are widely available.
Metallic Blue-Green Primer: This is a difficult match and not well represented, Xtracolor (X159) being the only range which offers it. However, it is similar to the turquoise color of Soviet cockpits albeit with a subtle metallic sheen due to it containing aluminum. Gunze makes a Metallic Blue Green (H63/C57) but it matches a World War II IJA/IJN color and is too blue, although this could be mixed in a 2:1 ratio with Metallic Green (C77/H89) to approximate the shade. A 1:1 mix between Metallic Blue (C76/H88) and Metallic Green (C77/H89) could also work. My personal opinion is the choice. MRP-191 US NON CHROMATE EPOXY PRIMER It’s the closest thing to the truth.