Wing Color on Boeing

[DutyCat]

I am doing a US AIR 737-200 in NMF with gray accents.

What I need to know is WHERE is the gray on the wings. The instructions call for gray on the trailing edge fairings, but what about the trailing edge flaps, control surfaces, and underside of the wing? Just what is the standard.....where does Boeing paint gray on their wings? And what about under the fuselage where the wing connects.

Thanks.

[Jennings]

What USAir scheme are you doing? The 737-2B7s they had delivered from Boeing in the early 1980s (the three tone red/maroon scheme over natural metal) had the typical 737 wing finish of that period. The entire lower surfaces were BAC 707 Gray (aka FS 16515, aka Canadian Voodoo Gray in the Model Master line). The upper surfaces were BAC 707 Gray with Coroguard inspar areas. The leading edge caps were natural metal, and the Krueger flaps on the inboard lower surface were white. The area of the upper surface between the slat and the fwd spar was a somewhat lighter grey. The flap track fairings were BAC 707. Escape route walkway markings were white with black arrows. The panel aft of the aft spar on the upper surface (the aft engine mount area) was natural metal. Horizontal stabs were BAC 707 all over, with a natural metal leading edge cap.

J

Edited March 15, 2010 by Jennings

[Living Legend]

Wow thx Jennings. That info will really help for future builds. I kinda messed my 732 up I guess(

[DutyCat]

What USAir scheme are you doing?

J

Thanks Jennings,

That one is nice, but that ain't it. The one I am doing has the dark blue fin with the red pinstripes. Radome, baggage doors, and tail cone are gray. The underside looks to be natural metal, with the exception of the "wing box" area. I need to figure out exactly where the gray goes there as well, BTW. In your pic, it looks as though the entire underside is gray, correct? Not the same as on my build, which I think has earlier markings.

WRT the wings and horizontal stabs, it is not entirely clear what is gray and what is NMF. I just want to get it right.

Does Testors even make Voodoo gray anymore? I looked for it but didn't see it at my LHS. I did pick up Aircraft Gray, which seems in the ballpark.

Edited March 17, 2010 by DutyCat

[Jennings]

The only part of the 737 that's generally painted grey is the wing/body fairing and the radome (the part that's not painted to match the livery), which are fibreglass. There are tons of photos of 737s taking off that clearly show the belly on www.airliners.net. I have the bottom view I can post, but it'll be a couple of days, as I'm working 7-7 the next two (I rarely get home before 8:30, and have to be up at 5:00). Sometimes they painted the baggage doors and the APU access panels grey as well, as you see in your pics.

On the top view I posted:

Wing leading edge slats and the inboard section are natural metal (NOT shiny on any 737 I've ever seen). The inspar area is Coroguard. Everything aft of the rear spar is 707 Gray. The area between the aft end of the slat and the fwd spar is a lighter grey. If you look at the top view carefully, there are four distinct colors visible on the wings. The darkest is the Coroguard inspar, next darkest is the natural metal leading edge, next is the 707 Gray, and the lightest is the bit behind the slat. The entire horizontal stab is 707 Gray except the leading edge (top and bottom).

I don't know if the Testors Canadian Voodoo Grey is still current, but "aircraft gray" is too dark. The sample of BAC 707 Gray that I have (that came from Boeing) is a dead match to FS 16515. It's a pretty light, very neutral (ie: not blue) grey color. If Testors doesn't have it, I'd take some gloss white and add just a touch of gloss black at a time until you get a match.

J

Edited March 17, 2010 by Jennings

[DutyCat]

Thanks, J. You have been very helpful.