Soviet cockpit Colors

Soviet cockpit colors

This article was a complete mess.. Lots of different aircraft models in different production years and poor photography. It was difficult to get the true color scheme right on the cockpits. Unlike NATO fighters. Soviet fighters used at least five distinctive colors plus a gray on the ejection seats. Why they chose this paint scheme was hard to fathom. Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko who flew the MiG-25 claimed that this was because it was found to be more soothing and relaxing for the flight crew to operate in a blue-green cockpit. In high stress situations. This color was very common in both Russian military and civilian aircraft during the Cold War era. I found an explanation in a Russian aviation isotope. The main reasons why the Russians use this shade of green is that it does not create an afterimage in your eyes. The same reason why surgeons have green protective gowns. You can look into the cockpit and quickly look out and you will not see an afterimage of the instrument panel. There is another explanation. they use red lights for regular night operations and very little light is visible outside the cockpits. Russian helicopters and cargo planes designed to operate in tactical night operations also have this feature.

Early Tactical: In the immediate postwar era, Soviet tactical aircraft cockpits were painted in a light blue interior that appears to vary widely in many photographs, with some showing a darker blue-gray and others a lighter blue-green (and everything in between). This was also the color used in interior areas such as wheel wells, as well as the landing gear, making it the only time a single color was used in most interiors.
Early Strategic: At the same time, Soviet strategic aircraft (bombers) cockpits were painted in various shades of green, closely resembling USAAF Interior Green ANA 611 as well as Dull Dark Green. This was likely the result of reverse engineering of the B-29 on the Tu-4, which resulted in the cockpit colors being reproduced. These colors were seen on subsequent bombers, including the Tu-16, Tu-22 and early versions of the Tu-95. It was not uncommon for the same cockpit to have different shades of green and, in the case of some later Tu-95s, turquoise instrument panels.
Late Cold War: The ubiquitous Cockpit Turquoise was only introduced on tactical aircraft with the MiG-21, although very early versions could still be found on older Light Blues. On strategic aircraft it was first used as standard on the Tu-22M. It was quickly adopted worldwide among all non-Sukhoi Soviet aircraft and helicopters, the color chosen due to its perceived ability to be both easy on the eyes and to help maintain pilot awareness. The color varies, with some cockpits leaning more towards green or blue.
Sukhoi: One company, Sukhoi, broke ranks from the standard turquoise color and introduced its own Sukhoi Cockpit Blue-Gray . This was darker than the early light blue, and in many cases showed slight hints of green. It is sometimes believed that the Su-24 had a unique color, possibly slightly darker, but this falls within the range of natural variation in Soviet/Russian colors.
Fulcrum: Finally, another recent exception is the MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’, which unlike other Mikoyan aircraft, has discarded the turquoise for the Fulcrum Cockpit Light Grey and Fulcrum Cockpit Light Blue . The former is a light gray with a very slight bluish tint that is visible in some photos. The latter is a blue-gray that is similar, though lighter, to Cockpit Light blue. Early MiG-29s tended to feature one of two colors with gray dominating, while later variants such as the MiG-29SMT have been seen almost exclusively in light blue. The first series of MiG-29s used the standard turquoise.
Ejection Seat: Many Cold War-era aircraft feature gray ejection seats. This appears to be a typical neutral/gull gray and will be referred to here as Cockpit Grey. Most modern seats, notably the ubiquitous K-36 used on all MiG-29, MiG-31, Su-25 and Su-27 variants, are painted black.

Painting Guide:

Mr. Paint is the only line to offer all five Soviet/Russian cockpit colors, and fortunately, in both the basic lacquer range and the water-based range, which is probably more useful for cockpits that typically require some degree of brush touch-up work.

Interior Light Blue: This is only offered by Mr. Paint, which is unfortunate as it is a difficult color to match due to its subtle greenish tint. The closest matches from Western palettes are probably FS 35526 or RLM 65.
Cockpit Turquoise: The classic Russian cockpit color is widely covered, but like the real thing, there is great variation in the offerings (see this link for differences). As with the real thing, there is probably no wrong choice and it is up to the modeler to choose the tone they find most appealing. The AK Interactive version (AK-2301) leans more towards blue, with most others being closer to green.
Sukhoi Cockpit Blue-Gray: AKAN’s version is quite dark but seems to have the right shade. Vallejo’s Dark Blue Grey (71.904) is very close to the Sukhoi cockpit color and arguably even more accurate than AKAN’s. Model Master’s version of Flanker Blue/Gray (2132) is also very close and certainly more accurate than the darkest of the three Flanker colors. The closest FS match is probably FS 35193 which is rare.
Fulcrum Cockpit Light Gray: A basic light gray or sky gray should be good enough as it seems to be relatively generic. Vallejo 70.989 could be close. AK Interactive’s AK-2304 could be acceptable if lightly lightened and is labeled Cockpit Grey anyway.
Fulcrum Cockpit Light Blue: Vallejo 71.344 is labeled Russian AF Grey Protective Coat and comes close to the color. The closest FS match is probably FS 35550.
Strategic Aircraft Cockpits: Given the similarity, it is recommended to use the equivalents ANA 611 and/or Dull Dark Grey
Ejection Seats: I suspect that AK Interactive’s AK-2304 was intended for ejection seats and it looks ideal for that. Otherwise, FS 36231 could be a good substitute.

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