Landing gear Metalic Silver Paint?

[flightsimer]

Anyone have any codes for this paint? I can't seem to find them anywhere, Preferably for Douglas aircraft.

[bdk]

Krylon Dull Aluminum 1403 with an Imron clear coat.

Do you have a MIL-SPEC?

[ZRX61]

There are countless metallic silvers out there, Just look through the books at your local paint shop until you find one you like. I've used a Ford one before.

[flightsimer]

There are countless metallic silvers out there, Just look through the books at your local paint shop until you find one you like. I've used a Ford one before.

Well yeah, but that isn't original

Haven't been able to get into the T.O.to see if it's listed in there, but none of the paint reference sites I have used in researching the various color variations have it listed.

I am wondering if it might have been a variation of the 1930's Metalic silver that was used on The outside of many US planes during the 30's.

[Taigh Ramey]

The Army and Navy used a silver paint for interiors, cowlings, landing gear etc. You can find a reference to it in many of the WWII aircraft -2 (erection and maintenance) manuals that have a Finish Specifications section usually in the back of the manual. This section is a good one but one of the colors is meant to look close to natural metal but should provide a protective coating. It was made by mixing aluminum paste or powder in clear lacquer or enamel. The manuals usually have the mix ratio so you can make it yourself if you want.

The Krylon dull aluminum as mentioned above is a dead ringer for the color and works well but if you want to mix and spray it then you can mix it in probably any clear that meets your needs. If you want to be authentic then mix it in clear lacquer or enamel. Here is an excerpt from the Finish Spec from the AT-6 maintenance manual 01-60F-2 dated 5 august 1944 revised 20 June 1945 page 307:



The above reference calls for 4 ounces minimum of aluminum paste to one gallon of spray material meaning lacquer. I have seen references showing the ratio for aluminum powder too but I do not have that handy at the moment and they also call for either lacquer or enamel as desired.

I have mixed it myself and it works great. Float Lac or Float Lacquer is also a good one that is close and is available ready to go.

http://www.randolphaircraft.com/floatlacquer.html

[sdennison]

Get with scale modelers. They are anal about historical colors.

[flightsimer]

The Army and Navy used a silver paint for interiors, cowlings, landing gear etc. You can find a reference to it in many of the WWII aircraft -2 (erection and maintenance) manuals that have a Finish Specifications section usually in the back of the manual. This section is a good one but one of the colors is meant to look close to natural metal but should provide a protective coating. It was made by mixing aluminum paste or powder in clear lacquer or enamel. The manuals usually have the mix ratio so you can make it yourself if you want.

The Krylon dull aluminum as mentioned above is a dead ringer for the color and works well but if you want to mix and spray it then you can mix it in probably any clear that meets your needs. If you want to be authentic then mix it in clear lacquer or enamel. Here is an excerpt from the Finish Spec from the AT-6 maintenance manual 01-60F-2 dated 5 august 1944 revised 20 June 1945 page 307:



The above reference calls for 4 ounces minimum of aluminum paste to one gallon of spray material meaning lacquer. I have seen references showing the ratio for aluminum powder too but I do not have that handy at the moment and they also call for either lacquer or enamel as desired.

I have mixed it myself and it works great. Float Lac or Float Lacquer is also a good one that is close and is available ready to go.

http://www.randolphaircraft.com/floatlacquer.html

Thanks Taigh, the landing gear paint is the last bit needed for our C-47. This will help a lot!

[bdk]

Note: The aircraft manufacturer would have used what they always did, you need to check the manufacturer's drawing to know for sure. It could have been a bare cadmium plated finish. The Tech Order colors were things available in the military supply chain.

[flightsimer]

Note: The aircraft manufacturer would have used what they always did, you need to check the manufacturer's drawing to know for sure. It could have been a bare cadmium plated finish. The Tech Order colors were things available in the military supply chain.

Yeah, I'm back at home so hopefully I'll get a chance to dig into the tech orders we have and see if I can find it in there.