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Late 1970s Navy UH-1N SAR Colour Confusion


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So, I'm looking for an unsual scheme or two for a couple of 1/72 UH-1N Hueys, when I remember that I have an old Microscale sheet tucked away, namely 72-372. On it is a SAR bird based at NAS Agana, Guam, probably in the late 1970's - BuNo 158248, now preserved outside MCAS Yuma. There are a couple of anomalies, however:

Firstly, although captioned as 158248 and with the decals themselves having that BuNo, the placement guide shows the number on the tail as 158284 - and an illustration here ( http://wpalette.com/en/pictures/35346 ) apparently taken from a 2005 book, also shows that number.

Secondly, as seen in the 1/48 instructions below, "Overall Glossy Sea Blue" and "Insignia Red" are quoted as the colours - however, as far as I'm aware, Navy Hueys were never Blue, but Engine Gray:

il_fullxfull.1904452000_nfuv.jpg

 

After extensive searching, I'd just about given up hope of finding photos of any Hueys in the same scheme, when I followed a Google 'NAS Agana' result to a 'togetherweserved.com' page - and amazingly found a couple a shots of the actual aircraft itself:

2096695_med.jpg.15d0afb2306d19c7dc64146659c58ace.jpg2096694_med.jpg.5d92f1561c64f6875e8eab2101aa8012.jpg

 

These confirm that it was indeed 158248, and the main colour certainly looks like Engine Gray to me - so now just one question remains: Red FS11136 nose, roof and tail, or something else?

The illustration with the incorrect BuNo says 'High-Visibility DayGlo' - but they also have the number on a grey panel (as do Microscale) when as the photos show, it clearly wasn't...

....I'm thinking maybe International Orange, which often appears red in photographs?

 

 

Edited by andyf117
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OK, for the red, don't go with FS11136, that's "Insignia Red" and will be too dark...I get a feeling you know that already.

The red the Navy used was a "day glo" red used on SAR birds, and other utility aircraft such as target tugs/drone launchers, etc. Though I have never found a proper FS number for it.

I recently built a DC-130 drone launcher and ran into the same issue of trying to find the proper "red" for the tail, as shown in the photos here:

11.jpg


281662.jpg

 

Some folks, and some paint guides, will tell you "International Orange" ( FS12197) but in this photo you can see the tail of the DC-130 is not the same color as the BQM-34 drone painted in Int. Orange:

 

DSC-3356-BQM-34-S-DC-130-A-570497-VX-30-

 

What I went with, was plain ol' Tamiya "Flat Red" (XF-7). A little semi gloss coat for decals and sealing over the decals, and it looks like what I wanted. BTW, the red stripes on the wings are "Insignia Red" (FS11136) and you can see the difference between them and the tail color.

IMG-3359.jpg

IMG_0963.jpg

In the meantime, "Mr.Paint" (MRP) has released a bottle of the proper red:

MRP002-XXX-2.jpg

I know the bottle says "Insignia Red for US Navy Training & Artic Camo" but it is NOT FS11136, they have a separate bottle in their line for that. I think they should remove that from the label to avoid confusion but, what can you do...🤷‍♂️You can get it here:

 
https://store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/mrp002xxx.htm

 

Or seeing that you're in GB, I believe Hannant's carries the line as well.

Good luck with your build! Looking forward to seeing photos posted up....and yes, the overall color should indeed be the engine gray (FS16081) 👍

Edited by 82Whitey51
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@andyf117,   Listen to Whitey, the man knoweth whereof he speaketh! 

 

Microscale / Superscale are notorious for shoddy research / reference diagrams in their decals, particularly in their earlier offerings.  Sometimes they just included instruction sheets from a different scale into a up/down scaled version, to save printing costs, I guess.  To be sure, some subjects were well researched.  If so, they will include their sources names on the decals instruction sheet.  Sometimes they may reference the appropriate government painting reference.  Sometimes, they simply referenced the latest Squadron Signal publications "In Action" book, many of which have similar errors.  Both MS/SS & SqnSig would get serials mixed up on several occasions.  Safe to say, do your own research.  MS mixed up the serial on the instruction sheet and gives the sideview of a UH-1D/H, not a N.  A good place for UH-1N serials is helis.com/database. Click on the C/N tab for individual airframe histories.  Hmm, apparently, USN entries have not been entered.  Search Joe Baugher's excellent USN/USMC BuNo list, page 20 and page 21 for the UH-1N serials with abbreviated histories for some airframes.

 

HTH,

Dutch

  

Edited by Dutch
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1 hour ago, 82Whitey51 said:

OK, for the red, don't go with FS11136, that's "Insignia Red" and will be too dark...I get a feeling you know that already.

The red the Navy used was a "day glo" red used on SAR birds, and other utility aircraft such as target tugs/drone launchers, etc. Though I have never found a proper FS number for it.


Good luck with your build! Looking forward to seeing photos posted up....and yes, the overall color should indeed be the engine gray (FS16081) 👍

 

14 minutes ago, Dutch said:

@andyf117,   Listen to Whitey, the man knoweth whereof he speaketh! 

 

Microscale / Superscale are notorious for shoddy research / reference diagrams in their decals, particularly in their earlier offerings.  Sometimes they just included instruction sheets from a different scale into a up/down scaled version, to save printing costs, I guess.  To be sure, some subjects were well researched.  If so, they will include their names on the decals instruction sheet.  Sometimes they may reference the appropriate government painting reference.  Sometimes, they simply referenced the latest Squadron Signal publications "In Action" book, which have their own errors.  Both MS/SS & SqnSig would get serials mixed up on several occasions.  Safe to say, do your own research.  MS mixed up the serial on the instruction sheet and gives the sideview of a UH-1D/H, not a N.  A good place for UH-1N serials is helis.com/database. Click on the C/N tab for individual airframe histories.

 

HTH,

Dutch

  

Thanks, Gents...

 

Having now referenced copies of MIL-C-18263F and MIL-STD-2161A, it would appear that the 'red' on 158248 would actually have been International Orange - dated 1971, the former has UH-25, UH-43 and UH-2 helos all in FS16081 with FS12197 'high-visibility areas' for SAR duties; and lo and behold, pages 141 and 142 of the latter (dated 1993 but apparently with many previous 1985 version drawings) have a UH-1N (non-combat SAR) in the same colours...

....so it would appear my initial instinct was correct!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 years later...
11 hours ago, Loach Driver said:

Has the UH-1N been retired from US Navy service now?


I believe that is correct in 2009 as those units have convert to H-60 versions.

https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/defence-helicopter/us-navy-retires-the-huey/
 

Marines retired the last in 2014 when they converted to the UH-1Y. 

https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/496683/final-flight-of-huey-for-red-dogs/

 

Heck the Marine are starting to “retire” UH-1Y’s. 
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/39925/marines-set-to-retire-dozens-of-ah-1z-and-uh-1y-helicopters-as-part-of-force-redesign


USAF is getting rid of their N’s as well.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/06/09/andrews-plans-swap-its-vietnam-era-huey-helicopters-new-grey-wolf.html/amp


Apparently that hasn’t happened just yet as his last flight was in a N.

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7979234/afdw-commander-retires-after-31-years-service

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Correct, LD, the UH-1N has been completely retired from USMC and USN service.  The USAF still has them but will eventually be replacing them with the MH-139.

 

The "retired" Yankees are going to the desert for storage because they have more aircraft than they do squadrons for them after shutting down HMLA-269 and HMLA-469 as part of FD2030.

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Tank...

 

I'm living near Fairchild, one of their Ns gave me my first helicopter flight 50 years ago!!!! Feb. 1974.

 

They are used for local SAR but unlike the old days, now there is a Sheriff Bell 205 Huey II, local EMS, and a a privately financed (by a retired Wall Street type) rescue helicopter in Western Montana.

 

The Fairchild unit still does most of its flying supporting the AF Survival school. And yes, they still have the same tail numbers they were issued in 1970.

 

To be honest, the new MH is more helicopter than they really need at Fairchild. The missile bases need larger ships to transport security teams.

Why not save the taxpayers a bit and buy some 412s?

(I know, I know, ..commonality savings).

Edited by JohnEB
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6 hours ago, JohnEB said:

To be honest, the new MH is more helicopter than they really need at Fairchild. The missile bases need larger ships to transport security teams.

Why not save the taxpayers a bit and buy some 412s?

(I know, I know, ..commonality savings).


It would seem for stateside that a UH-72 could possibly do the job. There is already schools and supplies setup for this making it cheaper overall then an another new line. Maybe 412 but they would program a new school, if that was the case why not UH-1Y then. Either way using existing supported product lines. 

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6 hours ago, JohnEB said:

 

I'm living near Fairchild, one of their Na gave me my first helicopter flight 50 years ago!!!!


Had to do some mathing and checking, 50 just hits the ear/eye funny 😱, seems the AF was first with the version. It must of had that new car smell to it. 

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