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Phantom Walkways


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Question for the Phantom experten on the board.   I have found some pics of Nebraska Air Guard RF-4C's and it almost appears that the black or very dark grey walkways are almost transparent.   This is for birds painted in SEA early and wrap around camos.   Was the anti-skid areas some kind of paint that was sprayed over the base camo and susceptible to wear?   This seems to be on aircraft other than Nebraska planes.   Examples can be found here.  

 

RF-4C_65-0932__173rd_TRS___Lincoln__Jun_

 

RF-4C_65-0903__173rd_TRS___Lincoln__Jun_

 

If you look closely between the dark tan and greens, you can see the tan showing through the walkway.

Edited by Drifterdon
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Conforming to MIL-W-5044, walkways were painted to contrast or match aircraft colors. Since it is a different texture than the surrounding paint, it may give the illusion of some sort of transparency at a given angle to a specific lighting source.

Edited by bashace
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On the F-4F the anti skid paint was a very rough color which looked like being applied with a broom or brush. Afterward the camo was applied. And the different texture resulted in a slightly lighter color the the surrounding paint. When I built my 1/48 scale 3rd TFW F-4E some years ago, I stubbed very old Testors falt clear coat with acut short brush onto the finished paint. It worked oiut well.

Clicky

 

B/r

Michael

 

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There were two methods of painting non skid on USAF F-4s. Aluminum oxide grit was one. Many USAF F-4s had the walkways applied but were consequently painted over leaving an uneven appearance. With time the walkway non skid wore unevenly. Here is an F-4E from the 704TFS late in life wearing a special scheme for Gunsmoke competition. You should be able to discern the faint outline of a walkway atop the intake.1295783705_Scan10.thumb.jpeg.fb620bd047478bf2fb674398e6ce6b84.jpeg

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18 hours ago, BillS said:

There were two methods of painting non skid on USAF F-4s. Aluminum oxide grit was one. Many USAF F-4s had the walkways applied but were consequently painted over leaving an uneven appearance. With time the walkway non skid wore unevenly. Here is an F-4E from the 704TFS late in life wearing a special scheme for Gunsmoke competition. You should be able to discern the faint outline of a walkway atop the intake.1295783705_Scan10.thumb.jpeg.fb620bd047478bf2fb674398e6ce6b84.jpeg

Thank you Bill for the information.   I think this is exactly what I am seeing but from an angle it appears that the walkway was painted black.  

I'm wondering what could be done to replicate this on a 1/48 model kit.   Was thinking of masking off the area of the walkway after painting the camo and shooting it with either a very thinned down black to just give a light darkening of the base paint or maybe try a layer or Tamiya Smoke to darken it.

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A technique I’ve used that’s convincing is to leave your final camo colors with a sheen. In reality even the flat finish appeared that way. Once   You're happy with your camo, mask the walkways to match your subject then spray them with your favorite flat coat so the sprayed area is dead flat and slightly gritty. Apply black border stripping if appropriate.

   A couple of things to be aware of: Navy and USAF walkways were shaped differently. Study numerous online photos for reference. Also, USAF walkways might not have only been present on intakes but atop the wing root and more notably the aft backbone all the way back alongside the vertical fin. This was not the case on every jet so check references for your particular jet.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/31/2021 at 4:16 PM, BillS said:

A technique I’ve used that’s convincing is to leave your final camo colors with a sheen. In reality even the flat finish appeared that way. Once   You're happy with your camo, mask the walkways to match your subject then spray them with your favorite flat coat so the sprayed area is dead flat and slightly gritty. Apply black border stripping if appropriate.

   A couple of things to be aware of: Navy and USAF walkways were shaped differently. Study numerous online photos for reference. Also, USAF walkways might not have only been present on intakes but atop the wing root and more notably the aft backbone all the way back alongside the vertical fin. This was not the case on every jet so check references for your particular jet.

 

 

Good info Bill on the differences between the AF and Navy planes.   Thanks much.

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