1:32nd P-47D-25-RE of Lt. Col Francis Gabreski, June 6th, 1944 Group Build

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Great pics there! That's the 'razorback' under re-build at Duxford, saw it last August, and very impressive too!
Dan, I notmally make Bronze Green by mixing Humbrol colours, to achieve the basis of a mid-shade of Olive drab, then adjust with yellow, blue and black until it looks right!.
The green I use is Humbrol Dark Green 30, and the brown is Dark Earth 29.
Here's what it should look like.
 

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Well, I stopped in at Joe's place and picked me up 3 jars of paint and one tin of:

Humbrol Cockpit Green #78:

The color looks damn close to the interior pics, and with weathering/wash/pastels, it'll work perfectly...

This is the Bronze Green 75:

Alittle too dark I think, and if I have to darken the Cockpit Green no problemo...

Cockpit photo again...
 

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Dan, careful! The Humbrol 78 is British Cockpit Grey Green, nowhere near either of the colours used on the P47! It is the actual colour as used on Spits, Lancs etc, although needs to be lightened to get the correct shade for various scales.
The Bronze Green 75 is the correct colour for a Republic-built P47, but again needs to be made a touch lighter for a 'scale' appearance, using a touch of yellow and dark earth.
If you're going for the colour in the pics you posted, then that is the Curtiss version of (US) Interior Green, so use the 75 with about 40% or 50% yellow, until it looks about right, bearing in mind the scale appearance.
 
I cant get a tin of 75 at the store tho T, he doesnt have it... I wanted to start the pit this weekend, Grrrrrrrr...

So if I use the 78, I gotta mix in almost 50% yellow??? The color looks so very close to the pics...

Im kinda lost on this, maybe my eyes suck more than I thought lol...

The color in ur pic Terry is way different than the color I posted up... I guess I got hung up on the "modern" color in a restored bird rather than "original" paint from Farmingdale...

In the two lid pics I posted up T, if u lightened up the 75, wouldnt it be close to 78???
 
Nope. Lightening the 75 will make it go more towards what you need, with a hint of yellowish brown - the 'bronze' effect. If you lighten the 78, it'll go either very light, wishy washy green, or more to a grey with a hint of green!
If you can't get the 75, try either Humbrol 30, or Humbrol 163, the latter being satin, and actually a better match for Dark Green, as the Humbrol 30 seems a bit bright of late. Add a spot or two of 29 Dark Earth, and a spot or two of yellow, until you reach an acceptable 'scale' shade' If you can't get them in Humbrol, then the nearest equivalent in another brand, and adjust as above until the desired shade is achieved.
Basically, the base colour for the green is the colour used for RAF topside camouflage, adjusted as required, and you might need to add just a small dash of black, to darken (sugar to taste, a slice of lemon, and salt on the rim!).
Bear in mind you'll need Dark Green for the camouflage schem topside.
 
Very easily - that's what I use for both BG and IG. First add the spots of 'brown', then yellow. If it looks too greenish yellow, more like the Interior Green, then add a spot or two more of 'brown', and a small dash of black. It might take some experimenting, but it won't take long to get right. Try each mix by painting a swatch onto card, scrap plastic or whatever, and letting it go at least touch dry.
The Dark Green is an excellent base for quite a number of 'greens', so is always worth having in stock.
 
I usually mix Humbrol 80 Grass Green and 74 Linen for US Zinc Chromate, alternating the ratio (and adding colours) according to the tone I want. I once read that this colour could vary ALOT - one P-47 rebuild for example revealed 8 different shades throughout the aircraft!

Good luck with the build Dan!
 
Wayne and I have been going over the many pics that show this particular aircraft, trying to figure out the ins and outs of certain things....

Several items are noteworthy, but the interpetation of such items is kinda sketchy.... I will include the pics and closeups Ive got, as well as the first pic below, in which Wayne tweaked it out to bring out the reflection.... Reflection from old dark Grey paint???

The big issue is the underside of the plane... Some think Medium Sea Grey, some say NMF.... After some info back and forth, Wayne and I think that the outboard wing is NMF and the inner portion from the invasion stripes is Medium Sea Grey, same as the underside of the fuselage....

The landing gear door is Grey, the round inspection cover on it is NMF...

Also, lower elevators look to be NMF with black stripe....

Comments are desired and needed....
 

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Tough call and kudos for the research.

First off, I wouldn't put much faith in the modern warbird having depicted the original correctly.

Second, the colour shots of the starboard side make the choice of NMF on the outboard wings pretty convincing. The B&W close-up fo the tailplane has a shine that would appear to indicate NMF - can't fault your logic there either.

The only mystery to me would be why there would be a mid-wing demarkation of grey vs. NMF.
 
Crimea_River said:
The only mystery to me would be why there would be a mid-wing demarkation of grey vs. NMF.
Click to expand...

Have to agree with Andy on this. Can't think of any reason why there would be a mid-wing change. If the outer portion of the wing is (at least in your estimation) a NMF then it would seem much more reasonable that the entire underside would be NMF.

Yet the outer portion of wheel doors are unmistakeably grey. Tough call guys.
 
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Possibility that the gear door was replaced with a grey painted one and the entire bottom is NMF??? The area on the inner portion of the wing looks grey to me tho.... Whats ur interpetation of the first pic??

Could be, but if u look at pic 3 I posted u can see on the inner white stipe the black tape border that has been ripped/torn off and that bright spot is the NMF underneath the tape/paint....

If u look at pic 1 2, on the underside of the cowling u can see the Medium Sea Grey paint that supposedly carries onto the inner wing.... This is the area that we need to really look at...

How would the camo look on the underside of the fuselage if the entire underside of the wing was NMF??? There would be a wierd demarcation line there as well....
 
lesofprimus said:
How would the camo look on the underside of the fuselage if the entire underside of the wing was NMF??? There would be a wierd demarcation line there as well....
Click to expand...

Good point. I'm going to have to look at the pics again. Right now it looks to me like fuselage underside, inboard wing section and possibly outer port wing are all grey, it's just that one shot of the outboard starboard wing that gives the appearance of a NMF. The problem is, those are NOT the same plane. Look at the registration numbers on the tails. I can believe that the plane with the starboard wing shot might have a solid NMF and the other one does not.

The restored bird is VERY tricky because the entire surface looks like it has a glossy lacquer coat on it, which makes it very difficult to distinguish between an NMF and glossy grey - well at least it does for me.
 
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