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B-36 & B-50 - Interior Colors


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Hi all,

Can anyone advise on interior colors for the B-36 and B-50? I'm not sure if it should be FS34151 Interior Green or Green Zinc Chromate - and the Academy instructions for the B-50 quote Dark Gull Grey...

Thanks!

Chris

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I've been all through the innards of the USAFM B-36J, and most of it is 34151. Boeing used a lot of Dull Dark Green well into the B-47 era. B-29s, and logically, probably B-50s, used mostly DDG with some IG and some natural metal components.

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I can tell you from first hand experience the inside of the B-36 at the NMUSAF is interior green.

If you need proof and have an Ifone (seriously? the correct spelling is caught by the spam filter?). there is an app called ACIcockpit360 that has panoramic shots of most areas on the B-36 and several other aircraft.

Edited by Captoveur
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I was looking at the WB-50 at the USAF Museum last week. Most of what I could make out in the cockpit was Interior Green. I tried to get a some pics, but the flash reflecting off the windows made it nearly impossible to make out anything.

SN

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No, see my note above. B-29s (pre-B-50) and B-47s (post-B-50) both had mostly Dull Dark Green interiors. No reason to think the B-50 didn't also have a mostly DDG interior.

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I've been all through the innards of the USAFM B-36J, and most of it is 34151. Boeing used a lot of Dull Dark Green well into the B-47 era. B-29s, and logically, probably B-50s, used mostly DDG with some IG and some natural metal components.

Jennings - just to clarify... 34151 is the color to go with? There seems to be confusion as to whether the 'commonly applied name' is Interior Green or DDG (which to be honest I've never heard of before)...???

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Ah...per IPMS Stockholm

"Dark Dull Green

Dull Dark Green was an outgrowth of Bronze Green introduced in September 1942. When introduced, Dull Dark Green was intended as a substitute/replacement for Bronze Green. There has been much confusion about the difference between the two colours. Without being conclusive, it would appear that the shades were very similar, with Bronze Green being slightly darker and semi-gloss. The sheen of Bronze Green was one reason why the all-matt alternative was sought.

When issued, the Dull Dark Green was to be used for tactical aircraft with enclosed crew cabins - i.e. bombers. However, it seems to have gained much greater popularity than intended by the ANA officials. The use of Dull Dark Green can be confirmed for cockpits of F4U Corsairs, later-production Avengers, P-51s, and P-47s as well as forward crew areas of B-17s, B-24s and B-29s. Interestingly, the use of Dull Dark Green in fighters ignored the general specifications calling for interior green in those aircraft.

Dull Dark Green was no longer included in the 1943 ANA colour standard, but the colour was still used. For example, later Erection & Maintenance manuals for the P-51D called for Dull Dark Green for certain cockpit components like seats.

FS 34092 seems to be a reasonable match for Dull Dark Green, with a comment that the original colour was slightly darker."

Edited by UKPonchoMan
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I've been all through the innards of the USAFM B-36J, and most of it is 34151. Boeing used a lot of Dull Dark Green well into the B-47 era. B-29s, and logically, probably B-50s, used mostly DDG with some IG and some natural metal components.

This is what is confusing me - 34151 is NOT DDG - it is Interior Green... DDG is (according to IPMS Stockholm) closer to 34092 ...

Jennings - can you clarify?

Thanks!!!

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Sounds like you've got it. In short, the B-36 would be almost exclusively 34151 inside (I've crawled through the NMUSAF aircraft as well and can confirm.) B-50s on the other hand may have a lot of DDG 34092 inside, although color pics are hard to find. I'll post what I have of the NMUSAF WB-50 this evening..I think the interior is still largely original, but of course being a museum aircraft the colors should be taken with a grain of salt.

SN

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Jennings - just to clarify... 34151 is the color to go with? There seems to be confusion as to whether the 'commonly applied name' is Interior Green or DDG (which to be honest I've never heard of before)...???

Chris,

If you want to read about the various USAAF interior finishes, there is a good summary here on ARC:

DDG, Interior Green, Bronze Green

And to add the confusion, there were two Dull Dark Greens. The pinned discussion above explains this.

Don

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I was just looking through my pics from various visits to the USAF Museum, and the cockpit of their WB-50 (which appears mostly original) looks to be mostly Dull Dark Green, with a few pieces of equipment painted Interior Green. Here are some pics..the exterior is washed out because I punched the brightness/contrast/saturation way up in an attempt to make out the interior colors. The insides of the canopy frames and sidewalls are definitely Dull Dark Green, but there appear to be some Interior Green lurking in there as well. The defroster pipe along the ceiling is bare metal, seen through yellowed plexiglass windows.

WB-50-02.jpg

WB-50-03.jpg

That diamond-texture padding is DDG, washed out by the camera flash.

WB-50-04.jpg

Looking in through the bombardier's window. The bulkhead in the foreground and the backs of the instrument consoles are Interior Green (the much of the paint has worn off the consoles) but as you can see the insides of the canopy frames are DDG.

WB-50-01.jpg

Cheers!

Steve

Edited by Steve N
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Hi Chris,

My book on the B-50 (Air Force Legends 215, published by Steve Ginter) contains a lot of notes on interior colors. In general the metal interior surfaces (including the gear wells and inside of the gear doors) were Interior Green while the fabric-covered areas were very close to dark dull green. A lot of the mounts for equipment such as brackets and supports were painted an egg shell olive drab. Wiring was fabric covers on an off white cotton covering and fuel and oxygen pluming was mostly unpainted. Most electronic boxes were a crinkle finished black.

Hope this helps.

Geoff Hays

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Thanks guys... So the plan will probably be:-

RB-36 - all Interior Green (FS34151)

RB-50E - mostly DDG (FS34092) with equipment in olive drab (not even going to START THAT conversation!!) with some IG for contrast...

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