# Air Force Blue Color Question.



## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

I'm not much of a modern aircraft builder and wanted to know if anyone knows what *dark blue * the Air Force used on _*vehicles*_ in the 50's.

Anyone have any idea? I would appreciate an FS # if you know it.

Thanks,
HAL9001-


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The paint used is Strata Blue. It does not have an FS number. It is the color used on, for example, the Mace Missile tractors.

This company sells spray cans of it for vehicle restoration. You could probably use it on a model with an appropriate primer. At the minimum you could buy a can, spray some onto a test object, then see what model paints come closest to it.

http://www.rapcoparts.com/25uairfostbl.html


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Hey, thanks for the link! All military colors have Federal Standard numbers. The Strata Blue Rapco Parts showed on their site is #25045 which *is* the FS number for that color. I looked it up on my 595a fan deck. It's more black than blue! But I have to draw in question if this is correct becasue they also list a USMC Forrest Green that was used from WWII to Vietnam. There was no "Marine Green" in WWII. They used the same OD as the US Army. I know this because of a _great_ converstation I had with an authoritiy on the subject when in D.C. a couple of years ago. I don't recall his name, but he does the restorations at the Patton Museum. He said after stripping many, many vehicles used by both the Army and Marines in WWII he as yet to see any evidence of "Marine Green" that is said to have been used. He also said this is an endless debate amongst "experts".

I'm not saying FS25045 _is_ wrong, I just want to do some checking. I hope it is because crap, like I said, it's almost black!

Anyway I know the fellow out at USS Alabama Battleship Park that does restorations and he may know. If not I'm sure he'll make some phone calls for me to find out for sure.

In fact, you sited the Teracruzer as one vehicle the Strata Blue was used on and _*that's*_ the vehicle I'm looking into building in the not too distant future!!

Thanks again,
HAL9001-


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

There are several things to consider... Looking at photos of the real truck the shade is obviously blue. This could be caused by a darker paint quickly fading out to a lighter, more pastel shade. Also the color may look more blue in 1/1 scale versus a 1/32 model where it may tend to look dark. There is the "scale effect" which dictates that as a model gets smaller in scale, the color paints used should be proportionately lighter. There is also the chance that the color assigned to the FS number has changed over the last 60 years. This is how a lot of model companies go wrong with making World War II Olive Drab. When the FS system started, the Wartime OD was given a number, but over the years the color associated with that number was updated; although the name Olive Drab was kept. So the shade in use today with the same number, is not the same as it was years ago.

But yeah Spectra Blue IS the correct color... there was already an exhaustive discussion about this on Hyperscale regarding the Mace kit, etc. The link to the paint vendor I provided is to a company that sells authentic color match paints for vehicle restoration guys.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Yeah, looks like that is the correct color unfortunately. I sure don't want to paint the Teracruzer almost black so looks like I may be cheating!!

The only reason I wasn't sure about Rapco Parts was the OD they said was the WWII Marine color, which I know is wrong.

Thanks again for your help. I don't go to Hyperscale much and didn't think of it. Guess I need to go and pull up that discussion.

HAL9001-


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Whenever I see them in a movie, it looks kind of "Blue Angels Blue" to me.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Olive Drab was the standard USMC armor color in World War II. The company does offer Marine Green but they do not say it is WW2.


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