Color matching for Low Vis

[sbarrett4]

I am going to make a 1/55 Low Vis custom and was wondering what colors would best match the paint scheme. The pics of Yamato's look to have a medium grey w/ some sort of sea blue-green accents. I don't need exact colors but I want to make sure I get it in the ballpark. Any owners out there that can confirm that I am seeing the colors correctly?

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

The darker color Yamato used for the accents are very close if not identical to Intermediate Blue (FS 35164). I used Testor's Model Master version for my low-vis custom and its an excellent match. The overall color is a neutral gray, so yeah, you're seeing the colors correctly.

[sbarrett4]

Thanks for the info. Now its off to the store.

Shan

[David Hingtgen]

Just FYI, the original customized VF-1 that the Yamato low-vis is based on is actually Light Ghost Grey and Air Superiority Blue--which are real-life low-vis colors. The modeler who made the custom obviously knew what to use to make it look realistic, but Yamato didn't quite match it. Intermediate Blue like Yamato used for their interpretation of it is sometimes used on low-vis, but rarely, and usually only as a variation for a particular squadron. (Basically, you're looking at F-14's from VF-1 and VF-154 as about the only uses of Intermediate Blue for low-vis). Neutral grey, though super-ultra-low-vis in all light conditions, is generally only for ships, not planes. (Only exception I know of is F-16 nose-cones).

For real-life accuracy's sake, as well as doing a better job than Yamato in matching the original low-vis VF-1, you might want to go with the ghost greys. Ghost grey IS low vis. (As in, the low-vis method of camouflage, as well as the ghost grey paints, were designed together for the express purpose of completmenting each other). Air Superiority blue is also perfectly good to use, for it was designed for the same purpose, just not the same program. (Ghost grey is specifically part of project COMPASS, air superiority blue is just "paint it sky blue to blend it" and was the immediate predecessor to ghost grey)

Edited December 1, 2003 by David Hingtgen