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US Navy Vietnam War Camouflage 1955-1971
From the mid-1950s, the US Navy adopted a much lighter two-tone gray camo for its carrier aircraft that would be one of the longest lasting schemes ever used by any air service. The first incarnation of this scheme was made official on 23 February 1955 (MIL-C-18263(Aer)) and called for all carrier-based aircraft to be painted with a topside color of Light Gull Grey FS 36440 and glossy undersides of Insignia White FS 17875. This scheme was partly designed to reduce themal effects of nuclear weapons. One of the interesting aspects of this scheme is that movable surfaces like flaps and rudders were painted Insignia White on all sides. This was not officially dictated but became almost universally adopted. FS 36440 is a darker and slightly warmer hue than the wartime ANA 620 which it superseded. In most cases, it looks like a neutral light gray but can also appear warmer with a slight creamish hue to it. FS 17875 is also similar to the wartime ANA 511 in that it is a tinted off-white, although the post-war version has an ivory-like color. It was common for many aircraft to include anti-glare panels in front of and sometimes around the cockpit, these being Black FS 37038.
From 15 August 1956 (BuAer letter Aer-AE-421/214), aircraft based in the continental United States were allowed to carry a special high-visibility scheme that was previously applied to aircraft operating in the Arctic. This consisted of a certain proportion of the rear surfaces of the aircraft (fuselage, wings, and stabilizers) being painted in International Orange FS 12197, which is more of a red than an orange. Unlike the Arctic scheme, this was to be applied using a temporary paint which was to be removed in the event that the aircraft was relocated outside the continental US. These guidelines were rescinded on 16 February 1964 after which only aircraft employed in training, target control, and SAR duties (which previously used Fluorescent Red-Orange FS 28913 but which also switched to International Orange thereafter).
Despite the overall monotony of this scheme, USN aircraft during this period featured high-viz markings and flamboyant unit decorations, often covering much of the aircraft. This certainly contrasted with the more subdued Vietnam War-era USAF aircraft in South-East Asia camo schemes. Simply put, USN aircraft have never looked better (and probably never will).
AeroplanePaint guide:
- Light Gull Gray FS 36440: Post-war Light Gull Gray is one of the most popular colors and is available in every paint range, except (surprise) Tamiya although XF-20, preferably slightly lightened, is close enough if nothing else is available. C-316 White FS17875
, Humbrol, Model Master, and Mission Models all make distinct matt or satin (FS 26440) versions of this color and are matched here; Gunze’s version (H325/C325) is listed as a JASDF color and does look slightly different to its gloss counterpart (H315/C315) being slightly less warm. It is my impression that most versions of Light Gull Gray look a bit too beige out of the bottle compared to aircraft in the field, which means some degree of pre- or post-shading is necessary to capture the grayer appearance on photos. - Insignia White FS 17875: Any off-white matches well with Insignia White and due to scale effect, any basic white is good. In any case, it is almost universally available.
- International Orange FS 12197: This is not a widely available color, with only Model Master, Colourcoats, Hataka, Mr. Paint, and Xtracolor offering matches. Mr. Paint’s MRP-232 is matched to the British Standard version BS 592 which for all intents and purposes is the same. International Orange is often confused with Fluorescent (or ‘Day Glow’) Red-Orange (ANA 633/FS 28913) which is slightly lighter and has a more orange hue. It is described in the Helicopters section below.
H-325 Semi-Gloss Grey FS26440 (10ml) – Mr. Color for Aircraft Models, Japan
H-316 Gloss White FS17875 (10ml) – Mr. Color for Aircraft Models, USA
FS 17875 | FS 36440 | FS 12197 | |
Insignia White | Light Gull Gray | International Orange | |
Schemes | |||
General | Lower / Flaps | Upper | |
Arctic / CONUS | Lower / Flaps | Upper | Rear |
Color matches | |||
Gunze Aqueous | H316 | H325 | – |
Gunze Mr Color | C316 | C325 | – |
Humbrol | – | 140 | – |
Model Master | 1745 | 1730 | 2022 |
Revell | – | – | – |
Tamiya | – | (X-20) | – |
Vallejo Model Air | 71.279* | 71.121* | – |
Vallejo Model Color | (70.820) | 70.986** | – |
AKAN | (73146) | 72014 | – |
AK Interactive | AK 2052 | AK 2051 | – |
AK Real Colors | RC222 | RC220 | – |
AMMO by Mig | – | A.MIG-241 | – |
Colourcoats | ACUS36 | ACUS01 | ACUS46 |
Hataka | HTK-_043 | HTK-_048* | HTK-_062 |
Lifecolor | – | UA 025 | – |
Mission Models | MMP-104 | MMP-063 | – |
Mr Paint | MRP-99 | MRP-98 | MRP-232** |
Xtracolor | X141 | X137 | X104 |
Xtracrylix | XA1141 | XA1137 | – |