Proper OD Green & Stencils Vietnam Era US Army Helios

[Cherrybomber13]

I know they switched OD's during the 60's to a darker green shade. Anyone have a source for the paint, possibly ready mixed? Also is there a good source the the large US Army Stencils they used on the tails booms on the UH-1's and OH-6's? Is there a computer font possibly that is accurate?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Drew

[JohnB]

I know they switched OD's during the 60's to a darker green shade. Drew

Do you mean the muddy brown color like we saw on Hueys? (At least I think it's more of a brown, the Army probably has other ideas).

As you say, it was far different than the gloss dark OD of the 50's and early 60s.

[L-4Pilot]

I know they switched OD's during the 60's to a darker green shade. Anyone have a source for the paint, possibly ready mixed? Also is there a good source the the large US Army Stencils they used on the tails booms on the UH-1's and OH-6's? Is there a computer font possibly that is accurate?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Drew

Drew, when we did this O-1 we got the paint codes from the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation in Atlanta, it is the same paint as used on their OH-6 and UH-1. The photo makes it look a lot more green than it really is. The Stencil is per the paint and markings tech manual which gives size and stroke for the various aircraft. We did not use a stencil and laid the letters out by hand. It is a lustreless satin

[L-4Pilot]

Drew,

This is the manual you need and I will email it to you in PDF format. It includes all drawings with the various schemes along with all stencils and locations. You have several different paint schemes to choose from.

You can choose between administrative gloss OD and white or tactical flat OD with black markings.

If you go with administrative Gloss OD your modern day paints are Imron:
White 508U
Olive Drab 8147U
Orange 547U
Black N8079UH
These codes were graciously provided to me by the Lone Star Flight Museum.

I am currently pulling my records to locate the modern paint code matches for the tactical flat Olive Drab we used on the most recent O-1 restoration.

Best Regards,
Steve