Sovietwarplanes

Hello all, my first posting here so I hope I got it in the right place.

I will soon begin building the lovely Zvezda kit and I have a question about colors. I have read posts here and other places concerning VVS colors until my head hurts. Like many others I invested in the WEM paints and like them very much even though they seem to be based on poor research. Most of what I'm read centers on the AMT colors. My question is are the WEM paints of the AII colors anywhere close to being correct. I plan on doing the Pe-8 in AII green, black and blue and would love to use the WEM paints but if they are off to the point of non use I don't want to use them. Any opinions, comment or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Gary

Hi Gary,

WEM paints are based on Pilawskii's fantasies, not on poor research.

AII colours were pre-war (before mid 1941!!!) nitro-cellulose varnishes for fabric.  Why would anybody paint all-metal Pe-8 with paints designated for fabric???

AII paints were glossy, this was considered as a demasking feature during the war.

In short, forget Pilawskii's fantasies and check Massimo's pages about camouflage development; you will get the idea.

Happy modelling,
KL

Welcome to the site, Gary!  You'll have to post pictures of you Pe-8 whilst you're building it.  I have the same kit; beautiful kit but it is big!  Good luck on it!

Regards,

Jason

If your WEM paints look like this I-16 - they are extremely wrong
(http://vvs.hobbyvista.com/Markings/I16/type29/i16-t29-r16.jpg)

Real prewar I-16s painted in AII paints looked like this:
(http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/i16/i16painting/i-16color.jpg)

Please don't paint your Pe-8 in lime green and cyan blue...  :-[

Hi there, interesting topic, I also have this model and would love to see some more info about the kit. Do you plan to use the decals provided in the box?

Hi Gary, hi all,
I've something about colors of early Pe-8 at

http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/1940-1941/1940-41.html (http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/1940-1941/1940-41.html)
and at
http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/1941-43/1941-43.html (http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/1941-43/1941-43.html).
Later camouflage is somewhat described at
http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/1943-45-bombers/1943-45bombers.html (http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/1943-45-bombers/1943-45bombers.html)
In the first page it's written that prewar planes were painted with A-19f gloss green (that was a bit lighter than AII green) and A-18f light blue (that was a bit more greyish than AII light blue).The second page shows Pe-8s after 1941, with a general pattern for green and black camouflage made with matt or semimatt paints.
One day I'll collect all the informations on a page on the Pe-8, but at present time this is all what I have.
Regards
Massimo

And what is written on the board?
"The fear of the fascist defenders of the city named after Lenin?"
In My hovercraft is full of eels?
 (http://files.myopera.com/Creat0R/Opera_AC/Icons/Kolobki/rofl.gif)

Good one, Musa!

Regards,

Jason

Better your hovercraft than your Shche-2, or your bowl of cabbage soup!  :D

John

Thank you all for your prompt and informative reply's. Some how I had missed the page Massimo posted with the P-8 profiles. The last thing I wanted was a huge lime green and cyan aircraft. I'm hoping with some careful blending maybe I can get something close to the A-19f and A-18f colors, I really like the look in the profiles on the posted link.

Once I get started if interested I'll post some photos here.

Thanks again.

Gary

Yes, Gary, please do post pictures!

Regards,

Jason

Maybe you've already seen this; in case you haven't, it may be useful to have everything on one page:
http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/color-table.html

John

Thanks for the link John  :)

Hi Gary,
two links for you:
http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Pe-8/Petlyakov-Pe-8.html
http://www.network54.com/Forum/666982/message/1307138935/Portada+comentada+(+Im%C3%A1genes,+Planos,++Maquetas+%2B+Video+)+Petlyakov+Pe-8

You don't want to make a "generic Pe-8" (i guess  ;) ), I would suggest famous Pe-8 No42066 which flew to GB and USA in 1942.  Simply becouse of the ample "photographic evidence"

(http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Pe-8/Petlyakov-Pe-8/images/1-Pe-8-4AM-35-Nr-42066-Molotovs-transport-aircraft-USA-1942-01.jpg)
(http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Pe-8/Petlyakov-Pe-8/images/1-Pe-8-4AM-35-Nr-42066-Molotovs-transport-aircraft-USA-1942-02.jpg)
(http://waralbum.ru/wp-content/comment-image/43270.jpg)
(http://www.warbirdphotographs.com/VVS1/Pe-8-1.jpg)
(http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/9563/76671336.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3596/3597564006_edb6233539.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3369/3597563992_432894b203.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3597563974_7e61b48493.jpg)

Nice links, Konstantin!  If it were cheaper, I'd buy that Amodel polar Pe-8 with the ASh-82's.

Regards,

Jason

 Having the Zvezda kit, will follow your build quite closely indeed!  ;D

 Regards,

 Panayotis

Thanks KL, I'm currently leaning in that direction.

If I may I have a further inquiry and that concerns the interior color. The instructions specify a light gray. I have no clue if this is correct but with the location of the manufacturer, perhaps they know more than I do. Anyway I was thinking of a gray similar to that used in at least some of the IL-2's. Any other comments or ideas ?

Also the instructions call out black for the flight suits of the included flight crew. Is this an accurate color. I have seen a number of color or colorized photos of Soviet airmen and while a few seem to have dark colored flight suits they seem to range all over the spectrum color wise. Any knowledgeable information here would be appreciated. I normally don't put figures in aircraft but these seem to be so well done for the scale I hate not to use them. Thanks again ! 

For interior colours check my posts at http://sovietwarplanes.com/board/index.php?topic=895.15

following are examples of better preserved ?steel gray? A-14 paint:

(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm13/klesnikov/VVS%20colours/aV2YYBk9-630b9c58d106d4de40d3736c886a44b9.jpg)

SB wreck found ?somewhere in Russia?.  A-14 applied directly on duraluminum


(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm13/klesnikov/VVS%20colours/66996836.jpg)

Same SB wreck.  A-14 applied over ALG-1 primer


(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm13/klesnikov/VVS%20colours/2d2701891564.jpg)

Another SB wreck preserved in ?one of the museums in Russia?.


(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm13/klesnikov/VVS%20colours/41a3f28388971d174d48571041f.jpg)

Third SB wreck found ?somewhere in Russia? (I believe in 1998).  Perfectly preserved interior A-14 applied over yellow ALG-1 primer.  Flash makes all colours lighter then they normaly were.


My interpretation of paints that could be seen on Kiev DB-3 fragments:

(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm13/klesnikov/VVS%20colours/DB-3interiorLbl.jpg)

Interior is definitely painted with A-14.  The paint is somewhat degraded (?chalking? and bleaching). Also visible is underplaying yellow ALG-1 primer.

Old Dog, I think Konstantin's correct about the A-14 being used.  For what it's worth, I use Testors Model Master Neutral Gray flat enamel for A-14.  I used to use Light Ghost Gray, but that appears a little too light to me now.  Of course you could just use AKAN's A-14.

Regards,

Jason

Thanks guys that is most helpful, lots of grays available and it's always easy to lighten or darken.