Shoo Shoo Baby B-17G Interior

[APG85]

Nice interior pictures from Air & Spacemag.com

Obviously a beautiful restoration...

http://www.airspacemag.com/multimedia/I ... tress.html

[The Inspector]

Note for modellers, it ain't 'Interior Green' inside. It's bronze/green

[mustangdriver]

Actually it is a paint color that the NMUSAF had matched. They had it specially made and is called "Shoo Shoo Baby Green" If anyone ever needs the mixing codes lest me know as I have them.

[JohnB]

A collector's item for all B-17 fans, there is a large format 24 page paperback book (rather similar in size to a new car brochure)
Shoo Shoo Baby, A Lucky lady of the Skies, photographs by Dan Patterson and written by George Merva, published by Patterson Productions, Dayton , Ohio in 1988.
It has beautiful, large detail interior photos of the aircraft, divided by section.

It clearly shows the colors, though if looks to me as id the bomb bay and waist section are more of the standard interior color. The flight deck and radio room are the different shade as noted above. Mustangdriver, is that correct?

It notes the PPG paints did the color match for free and provided a batch of "leaf green" paint which they named after the plane.



It also has some photos of the delivery...and reminds us that "Doc" Hospers and his son were the delivery pilots.

[mustangdriver]

THe dark greeen portions are correct. I'm not sure if the other areas should be bare metal but in preservation sake painted it, or if they know that this was right.

[The Inspector]

How about a close FS 595 equivalent number? It's got to be close to an existing shade or tint of green that's already out there. Taking into account 10% scale effect tonedown, should be close enough for 99+ out of 100 folks.

[mustangdriver]

Oh yeah for models I agree with you color, I was just talking abou thow they put alot of work into that color. I found it interesting that if you go to Sherwin Williams they actually have Shoo Shoo baby Green. That is the company that mixed it.

[APG85]

Strange how there are paint-worn areas in the flight deck between the seats and on the seat edges especially since she only flew a couple of post restorations flights. Thoughts?

[mustangdriver]

The crews of Shoo Shoo baby have a reunion where they get into the aircraft every year or so.

[The Inspector]

Sooooo, do I find a pre manufactured modelling Bronze/Green paint in a 3/4 oz. bottle, or go down to the local PPG store and buy a pint of 'SHOO SHOO SHOO BABY Green which should last through my great-great grand kids' lives? You sort of didn't complete your statement

[mustangdriver]

Or you can be nice to someone that has a bunch of SSB Green, and they can give you some.

[APG85]

Beautiful plane. Would love to see a step by step restoration thread...

[Steve Nelson]

The color is actually Dull Dark Green..it was introduced in 1942 as a matte replacement for semi-gloss Bronze Green (to cut down reflections) Both colors are very similar. They don't actual FS numbers, as that color system didn't exist yet..but 34092 seems to be a close match. On B-17s, DDG is correct for the nose, cockpit, and radio room. If you want to get picky, the original specs call for only the exposed metal parts to be painted..most of the interior was covered with padding that was dyed either dark green or OD. It was usually ripped out in service, exposing the bare metal structure. By the time the G's came along, most of the padding and most of the interior paint had been dispensed with to speed up production. On a wartime Fort, the bomb bay was usually Neutral Gray on camouflaged aircraft, and unpainted on bare metal birds. All B-17s were pretty much unpainted inside aft of the radio room.

Of course, most restorations have been painted inside for maintenance and preservation..when they were originally built they were only expected to be around for a few months, so long term corrosion protection wasn't really much of a concern. Yankee Lady has similar interior colors to SSSB, with DDG in the cockpit and nose, but Interior Green everywhere else inside.

For modeling purposes, nobody makes specific Dull Dark Green, but Testors Model Master "Euro 1 Dark Green" FS34092 is a decent substitute. I prefer Humbrol for brushing, and for DDG I've got a few carefully hoarded tins of HB-1 Dark Green from the old "Authentic Colors" line. The stuff is at least 30 years old, but still as good as it was when it was made.

Here are some original examples of Dull Dark Green, courtesy of Albert Stix..who was kind enough to send me a few bits from his massive stash of NOS turret parts.



Here's a snapshot of the cockpit of the Memphis Belle..while a lot of it was sprayed Interior Green during her refurbishment in the 1980s, you can still see the original Bronze Green or Dull Dark Green below the throttle console and at the base of the control columns..



And here's the unrestored cockpit of The Swoose. (the seats and panel have been removed.) You can see the exposed parts are either Bronze Green or DDG. The padding was originally dark green or OD, but has faded to a red-brown.



DDG was also used in the cockpit and nose of B-24s. Some years ago the nose compartment of the Strawberry Bitch was painted Interior Green throughout, but here are a few photos taken of her in her original state (courtesy of Karl Hauffe.)







SN

[the330thbg]

testors had a very similar green when I was a kid. I was painting the interior of a 1:48 B-17G (35 years ago or so) and my dad (B-29 flyer) was watching and nudged over the darker metalic green instead.., I was shocked, but he was right!
I had the bomb bay of my massive 1:48 Monogram B-29 painted OD as well and he said it was never painted. Was NMF as well as the wheel wells.

He was correct. As usual!

Miss you dad!

Last edited by the330thbg on Mon Oct 10, 2011 2:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[The Inspector]

Thanks for the ifo Steve, just the answer I was originally seeking, much apreciated.