I'm currently building a *very* early F-15A. So early that it is in Air Superiority Blue.
The interior of the wheel wells and Bay 5 (the avionics bay behind the cockpit) are painted in a strange metallic blue-green colour (Xtracolor X159). Fair enough.
However, that seems to be a McDonnell Douglas colour used exclusively for new build F-15s. What about F-15s that had undergone major servicing at a USAF facility? Do they still use the blue-green colour?
I wasn't aware that they ever used the blue-green for the wheel wells, but Bay 5 started being painted white at the factory from FY 80 on up, from what I've heard.
Dave
Yes - and it's not exclusive to Eagles...it's a factory base metal anti corrosive coating still in use today, and if you look deep enough at airframes you can find it on Harriers, Hornets, and T-45s as well in areas not specifically spec'd to be white. I think Model Master also makes an "F-15 Interior Green". I can't recall if it's actually a paint or something a bit sturdier...
In fact, I don't even think it's specific to McDonnell...I seem to recall seeing it on some older helos as well.
I'm using WolfPak sheet 72-004. WolfPak seem to have done their research very carefully and the instruction sheet claims that the wheel well interiors were painted in the blue green colour while the gear itself and the bay door interiors were white.
If I remember correctly from my days at MDD in STL, the blue green was a primer- the color of the aluminum before it received its finish paint. It was NOT zinc chromate. It was a thin, metallic blue-green. Kind of an attractive color, actually.
You can see some photos of the green color on these CF-188s:
...surprised the heck out of me when GM started offering it as a color on Corvettes a few years back...yuck.
Bummer...was hoping to see one of "mine" again - 927 or 929...
I'm off sick today, or I'd get a chance to ask our shop folk exactly what it is and how it's applied...but as suggested elsewhere, it's pretty much an all-area anti-corrosive primer. I think it has some anti-static properties, too.
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