Mr. Color - FS17875 bílá

The white from the stars on the wings

The number FS17875 belongs to the shade called Insignia White. It is not a universal white but a precisely defined gloss tone that the US Air Force and the US Navy used to paint the stars and bars of the national markings. That is exactly why a modeler meets it even where it would not be expected, namely under a decal that is meant to adhere on a gloss base without silvering.

This tone got its largest areas in the so-called gray over white scheme, which American carrier aircraft wore from the mid-1950s roughly until the end of the 1970s. The undersides of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, the Grumman A-6 Intruder, the Vought F-8 Crusader or the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II shone white, while the upper surfaces were covered by a light gull gray. White had a practical reason here: it reflected the heat of the sun and made it easier to find cracks and oil drips on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Watch the covering power: of all shades, white covers the worst. It pays to build it up in several really thin coats over a light base, because a heavy coat laid down at once fills the fine engraving and still shows through.

The paint comes from the lacquer, cellulose range. The thinner has to be chosen from the same range; water does not work here. The gloss finish that results once it has dried is at the same time the ideal base for decals and can easily be pulled back with a matte varnish once the model is finished. The depth of the white also allows it to be used as an undercoat beneath yellow and red shades, whose pigments would look muddy and without sparkle over gray plastic.