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Tactical Air Command Camouflage 1947-1964
The Tactical Air Command was formed on 21 March 1946, a year before the USAF was established, and encompassed fighters, fighter-bombers, ground attackers, and other non-combat aircraft that could be used in support of ground forces or deployed for operations around the world. Daytime operating aircraft continued the late World War II tradition of leaving their aircraft unpainted in their natural metal finish which was primarily aluminum. Different aluminum alloys used throughout the airframe resulted in noticeable contrasts between panels, even more so with gun muzzle panels and engine exhausts which were often made of more heat-resistant material such as stainless steel or titanium and consequently looked darker. An inherent problem with natural metal finishes is their susceptibility to corrosion and as a result, many aircraft (notably the F-100 and F-105) were repainted in aluminum lacquer (FS 17178) beginning in mid-1962 as part of an upgrade program known as Project Look-Alike. This resulted in a more uniform and slightly duller metallic finish, although heat-sensitive panels were still left in natural metal. Night operating aircraft also followed the wartime tradition of being painted in overall ANA 622 Jet (later FS 17038 Black), a highly gloss black that was specifically developed for night operations but which tended to lose much of its glossy sheen in combat conditions.
Aside from the flamboyant unit markings that characterized post-war USAF aircraft, to which was added nose art and other individual adornments during the 1950-53 Korean War, the only part of the aircraft that was typically painted were the anti-glare panels in front of the cockpit. The two most widely used colors for this purpose were ANA 613 Olive Drab (later FS 34087) or ANA 604 Black (later FS 37038), both lusterless (flat). ANA 613 was the final incarnation of olive drab used by the USAAF although its wartime use was limited due to the abandonment of camouflage in 1944. It was slightly lighter and browner than the earlier Dark Olive Drab No. 41 and is believed to be closer to the current FS 34086 than its official FED-STD descendent, FS 34087, which was changed further and later renumbered as FS 34088 (see the USAAF page for the convoluted history of US Olive Drab). Some aircraft, most notably the F-86 and the F-100, did not use anti-glare panels at all while the F-104 used FS 34079 Forest Green and a few F-86Ds were seen with a color resembling FS 34092 Gunship Green. By the time the 1964 edition of T.O 1-1-4 was issued, FS 37038 had been largely standardized as the default color for anti-glare panels and remained so throughout the remainder of the Cold War.
Aeroplane
F-86 Sabre
F-51 Mustang
F-100 Super Sabre
F-105 Thunderchief
F-94 Starfire
F-80C Shooting Star
The reign of metal finishes (natural or lacquered) would end in 1964 with the re-introduction of camouflage across all of the USAF’s major combat commands including the TAC. A similar shift took place in many other air forces around the world which meant that by the end of the 1960s, it would become rare to see a military aircraft in natural metal.
Colors camo :
Natural metal: Any aluminum or silver (preferably lacquer) will do for the NMF. Tamiya’s LP-11, based on its AS-12 spray can which modelers have long used decanted, is particularly good as it is duller than the typical metallic paint which is more realistic, and also has primer-like durability. Otherwise you are better served by using specific metallic ranges such as Gunze’s Super Metallic Silver 2 (SM201) or Vallejo Metal Color Aluminum (77.701), the latter being probably the best metallic paints in acrylic which otherwise tend to be unacceptably grainy. Post-war aircraft generally had many different colored NMF panels so mixing standard aluminum with dark and white aluminum is recommended.
ANA 613 Olive Drab: There are a decent amount of ANA 613 offerings some of which also match FS 34086 or FS 34088. Generic Gunze, Humbrol, and Tamiya Olive Drabs are added in parenthesis given their widespread availability. ANA 613 is believed to be a close match to RAL 7013 which would also allow for Revell 46 (oddly labeled as Nato-Oliv) as an alternative. Tamiya XF-62/LP-28 are noticeably green and certainly do not capture the browner tone of ANA 613 although they are included in the table regardless. Given that post-war use of ANA 613 was relegated to anti-glare panels, any US Olive Drab should be suitable.
ANA 622 Jet: This color is essentially a gloss black although it frequently took a duller appearance in combat, so any black regardless of sheen is good. A lighter black grey such as NATO Black FS 37030 is preferable to allow for tonal variation which it comes to large areas like the full undersides or fuselage. Gloss black matches are provided below.
FS 17178 | FS 34087 | FS 37038 | FS 17038 | |
ANA 613 | ANA 604 | ANA 622 | ||
Aluminum | Olive Drab | Black | Jet | |
Schemes | ||||
TAC Day | Overall | (Anti-glare) | (Anti-glare) | |
TAC Night | Overall | |||
Color matches | ||||
Gunze Mr. Color | C8 | (C12) | C33 | C2 |
Gunze Mr. Hobby | H8 | (H52) | H12 | H2 |
Humbrol | 56 | (155) | 33 | 21 |
Italeri | 4678AP | 4842AP | 4768AP | 4695AP |
Model Master | 1781 | 2050 | 1749 | 1747 |
Revell | 99 | – | 08 | 07 |
Tamiya Acrylic | XF-16 | (XF-62) | XF-1 | X-1 |
Tamiya Lacquer | LP-11 | (LP-28) | LP-3 | LP-1 |
Vallejo Model Air | 71.062 | 71.016* | 71.057 | – |
Vallejo Model Color | – | 70.887* | 70.950 | 70.861 |
AKAN | 6/76004 | 6/72033 | 78003 | – |
AK 3Gen Acrylic | AK11287 | AK11863 | AK11029 | – |
AK Real Colors | RC8200 | – | RC804 | – |
AMMO by Mig | A.MIG-194 | A.MIG-240* | A.MIG-046 | – |
Hataka | HTK-_078 | HTK-_018 | HTK-_041 | HTK-_100 |
Lifecolor | LC 74 | – | LC 02 | LC 52 |
Mission Models | MMM-003 | – | MMP-047 | – |
Mr. Paint | MRP-3 | MRP-138 | MRP-5 | MRP-172 |
Xtracolor | X142 | X112 | X404 | X012 |
Xtracrylix | XA1216 | XA1112 | – | XA1012 |
THE TURN OF THE CENTURY