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External Tank (ET) paints?


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Hey guys,

I'll be painting a Monogram 1/72 External Tank soon for a friend. I had used Polly Scale paints on a 1/144 ET a few years ago but unfortunately Testors discontinued the Polly Scale line of paints.

Does anyone have any suggestions for paint brands and colors they use when painting an ET?

Anything in a spray can or acrylic paints?

Mike.

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Hey Mike. Like I said in the IM, I used Rustoleum Multicolor paint (finally settled on a light tan based version of it) and then for a fresher tank (one just at or before roll-out) I used a Citadel color called "Vomit Brown". I think it's still available and it's a pretty nice orange-ish brown that matches the photos I've seen of a tank at roll out.

Good luck and post pics!

Bill

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As old as this saying is - the answer honestly is; "it depends". When I was living near KSC, that question came up quite a bit at the model meetings. As soon as the ET went outside, the color started changing - getting darker as time went by. Pick a picture you like - and anything close will be more than adequate. These aren't great photos - but I did this stack for a friend and used Floquil paints - but according to guys who worked out there - on them - these colors were (on average) pretty close.

George

File0222_zpsrmhhirqq.jpg

File0221_zpsmhlwj2ik.jpg

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George, Thanks for posting the pictures. As I said in my first post I had used Polly Scale paints to paint an ET but those paints along with Floquil have been discontinued.

I'm looking for another brand of paints to use now.

Mike.

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I am currently working on painting an external tank as well. I have been looking at the various paints to see which comes closest to what I am looking for.

Tamiya paints seem to be my choice and I am turning out good results. It takes a little bit of mixing and patience to get the exact shade I am looking for.

depending on which era and especially which mission you wish to represent greatly depends on how you mix the colors. I use 3 colors from Tamiya:

XF3- flat yellow; XF-7-flat red and XF-10 flat brown. I found these three colors will cover all flights except STS-1&2 as these were a slight yellow w/ white color.

You can produce the rusty brown, reddish brown, rollout brown, these 3 colors seem to cover the variations throughout the shuttle program.

I have done this two ways. I will either mix it matching a photo one part at a time and record what I'm doing on paper

or there is an app for iPhone i use called "imodelkit full". With this app, you can download a photo and use it for reference while mixing up to 4 colors from various

manufacturers and it will get you in the ballpark of where you should be.

Another option, you might want to check out the Vallejo line of paints, specifically the "yellow ochre" color. I read in a forum a while back about someone using this color to produce

The rollout ET color with good results.

In another forum, someone used 3 rust oleum rattle cans in a certain order with rather good results. Endless options out there, just depends on which one you prefer.

Hope this helps you!

Andy

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If we are talking the Floquil Railroad colors I suggested, Scalecoat makes exact color matches to those shades since the majority were colors for specific railroad companies. Whatever you use, keep your formulas simple, i.e. only a two color mix. This makes it A LOT easier to duplicate if you run out. In my experience going with three color mixes gets a bit problematic.

I believe both Southern Pacific Daylight Orange and Union Pacific Light Orange are both available from Scalecoat. The third Floquil color was S.O. Freightcar Brown (could be replaced with a different brown if needed, I went with it because it was a big bottle). Each of the oranges mixed with the brown got me the "season to taste" colorings for the ET that I wanted. If I recall, the SP orange and brown I used for most of the tank while UP orange and brown was used for the intertank area to give it a different lighter appearance (since it was sculpted and sanded foam, not the normal sprayed acreage foam).

For the yellow bands, I just used straight Union Pacific Armor Yellow, which is again a standard color and likely available from Scalecoat.

Edit: Okay, I found one color chart. Looks like SP Daylight Orange and UP Yellow are both available from Scalecoat. I don't see UP Light Orange though or SO Freightcar Brown. But Scalecoat makes a few different lines of paint for both model railroaders and toy train restorers, so chances are good they have what is needed. I would check out the nearest dedicated model train shop to see what they have in stock. There are a couple other paint lines as well, so the ball got picked up by other companies when Rustoleum/Testors dropped it.

Edited by Jay Chladek
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Thanks Jay! I actually used the Polly Scale paints on my Revell Shuttle's ET since I prefer acrylics. I used SP Daylight Orange, Rust and a small amount of Reefer White for the ET and lightened the mixture for the intertank, where the white was added. I don't think Union Pacific Light Orange and S.O. Freightcar Brown were available in the Polly Scale line. Rust was a good brown substitute at the time.

For the yellow bands I did use the Union Pacific Armour Yellow but added a few drops of SP Daylight Orange and I might have lightened it but don't remember.

I'll check out the Scalecoat paints. I see they now have Scalecoat II which may be an acrylic paint. I just e-mailed the new owners to find out about that.

Mike.

Edited by crowe-t
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I used Tamiya colors, they seems right shade when mixed properly.

Here's a example I used on my early ET.

1f69bf0e-8892-4e57-9415-eb52dc771629_zpsjvsri7bd.jpg

Noted that most darker shades are upper cone & Intertank of the E.T. as the weathering goes with time.

Hope you get it right.. :rolleyes:

Cheers,

George

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  • 2 weeks later...

The biggest factor to consider with ET colors is there will ALWAYS be variation in them as the coloring is the result of UV light exposure on the foam. So it starts out off white, darkens to a sort of pancake batter tan right away, then to yellow, then to dark yellow, to burnt orange and all the way to brown shades. Sanded areas can also look different from rough un-sanded foam. A shuttle that launches right on time with only a little bit of pad prep will have a more or less burnt orange tank (unless the tank was built and stored for a fair amount of time before flight). One that required an engine change at the pad and spent a month or two there without a roll back to the VAB (as happened to Discovery once)... a deep milk chocolate brown.

So since you are trying to hit a moving target, find a picture of the specific shuttle mission you are modeling and match to that, preferably a launch day shot as opposed to a VAB rollout shot. But even then, don't get too crazy on matching exact color as you can afford a little variation and sometimes brown shades don't get interpreted exactly the same by digital cameras.

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Jay, thanks for the input! :) I'm familiar with the changing colors of the ET's. I'm hoping to find a non-solvent acrylic paint as I'm not a big fan of solvent based enamels.

Badger has acrylic railroad paints that I might give a try.

Another concern is how difficult will it be to spray the larger Monogram 1/72 ET with an airbrush. I have an Iwata HP-CS Eclipse. It might be like trying to mow a football field with a push motor but I'm sure it can be done. :lol:

Edited by crowe-t
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  • 6 months later...

Valspar Flat Island Orange spray paint looks very close to a good ET orange color. It would be a lot cheaper and easier than using an airbrush. Here is a picture of the spray paint can. Bedroom-Makeover.jpg

Edited by Astro-AL
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