G'daay guys
I have never used Vallejo before, so im wondering, what would be the Vallejo's i'd want for this F-16 scheme...



Mainly talking about the two base colours there, the light and darker grey.
Cheers, all help is appreciated.

Hi David,

I believe the colors that you are looking for are:
FS 36118, FS 36270, & FS 36320

As far as I've been able to determine Vallejo does not make an equivalent for FS 36320...perhaps you can mix some black with a lighter gray and come close but that's a bit tricky. Polly Scale makes a match for each color if you can get a hold of that brand. Same goes for Testors Model Master Acryls.

Here goes with the paint numbers and manufacturers:

FS 36118 - Val #868, PS #505382, MM #4752
FS 36270 - Val #870, PS #505384, MM #4757
FS 36320 - PS #505374, MM #4761

All of these paints are acrylics which I assumed you wanted to use since you were asking about the Vallejo line of paints in the first place. Good luck with the Falcon and let us see your work when you're done.

Kirby

G'day mate, thanks alot for that, but what brand is FS, i assume VAL is Vallejo?
Cheers

Hi David,

FS stands for Federal Standard which is U.S. Government jargon for their paint color charting system. Since dropping you the ealier reference I searched the Aircraft Resource Center website and found a decal set put outby Two Boobs that depicts two F-16's from the same Arkansas ANG outfit pictured in the Academy photo you provided....the neat thing is that the decals came with an instruction sheet that says the F-16's from that unit were painted FS 36118 & FS 36270 only - NO THIRD COLOR FS 36320.

Hope this helps and g'day mate! What a blast saying that to an actual Aussie....here in the South we like to say, "Y'all come back now, ya hear."

Kirby

Oops! That's Two Bobs....guess you can tell what's on my brain huh?!

Oh yeah, on the decal set it looks like the radome which in a lot of cases is a slightly different shade of gray versus rest of a/c is the lighter of the two grays.....clear as mud, huh?

Kirby

G'day Mate! :-)
Thanks, but youll have to excuse my ignorance here, as im a little confused again.
You say there is no third colour, beauty, but which colour is the one that i dont use then? You see how it has the two tone camoflage, with the darker tone of gray from behind the canopy and back, which colour is that, and then which colour is the lighter grey infront of that, and on the tail?
Cheers mate, hope you dont mind the questions.

Sorry for the confusion...let me see if I can clear this up!

If you take the information from the Two Bobs decal set (48-042) for the F-16C's from the 188th Fighter Wing/Arkansas ANG (which I believe is the same outfit depicted on the Academy picture) then it appears that the aircraft only had two colors applied. Vallejo Model Color #868 (FS 36118) which their website describes as "Dark Sea Grey" and Vallejo #870 (FS 36270) which is described as "Medium Sea Grey." The Academy photo shows a third color used on the radome but the Two Bob set only mentions two colors and the radome, therefore, is painted the lighter of the two colors - Vallejo Model Color #870. The review of the Two Bob decal set stated that the company consulted a former pilot from the unit to get the correct markings and colors.

By the way I have used Vallejo paints and I love 'em...goes on great when thinned properly and real easy clean-up. Check out the following sites - www.acrylicosvallejo.com for info on Vallejo paints and www.aircraftresourcecenter.com for great info and pics of aircraft models/modelling. Hope this helps and never hesitate to ask for clarification on something. It is far better to mark twice (or more times) and cut only once....catch my drift.

Good luck. Give a shout if you still have questions.

Kirby

One more thing.....

Check out this excellent site -

www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_fs.htm

I know the address is a mile long but if you follow it you will reach the holy grail of paint reference material!

By the way if you decide to paint the radome a different color then I suggest matching FS 36320 which is the usual color used on F-16 radomes. Just remember as mentioned earlier in this thread, Vallejo does not have a match for this Federal Standard color. Pollyscale and Model Master do!

Over and out.

Well mate youve answered it all haven't ya!
Thanks alot, youve been extremely helpful, if you ever need a hand with anything, particularly Aussie or Vietnam War related, give me a shout, i'll be more than happy to help.
Cheers