Mil Spec Paint Info by Mark Navratil
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A short preface: 
I posted some text on the site about wanting to find the EXACT paint 
specs on the T-37 Tweet, the plane I'm modeling Flash's paint scheme after.  
The following was one of the emails I received.  The response was so 
informative it just had to become an article. RVators are great!  dgr
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Hi Doug,

Since I decided a couple years ago to use the T-6A paint scheme on my
-8A, I've spent a lot of time searching for mil spec paint
info.  The mil spec you want to match for you Tweet paint scheme is
called Federal Standard 595 and
has color chips of all paints used on military aircraft.  I finally found
out that you can request a free copy of this spec (your tax dollars at
work) by sending a fax to the DODSSP (Dept. of Defense Single Stock
Point) in Philadelphia, PA.  The number is (215) 697-1462.  Just fax a
sheet of paper with your name and mailing address on it, and
state that you want a copy of Federal Standard 595.  It took a couple
weeks to receive it in the mail.  The DODSSP also has a phone number (215)
697-6257, but if you call them they'll just tell you to send a fax....you
can't order by phone apparently.

By the way, the T-6A Texan II is the new USAF trainer that is replacing
the Tweet.  It will also be used by the Navy but they don't have any yet.  
The USAF has them in service now at Randolph and Moody.  I don't know if the
T-37 uses the same colors for red, white and blue that the T-6A uses but
my bet is that it probably does.  If you want to make absolutely sure,
you'll have to find someone who works on or flies T-37's who can give you the
595 paint colors, then you can use Federal Standard 595 paint chips to either
match it closely with an existing paint of your choosing, or custom mix
it, or in some cases, find a commercially available paint that already meets
the mil standard.  Deft brand paints are used on the T-6A and meet the
mil specs if you're willing to pay for it.  I hope to use an existing
color from my local paint
dealer (Dupont Imron or Sherwin Williams) that's as close as possible and
stick with a standard that I can easily get in the future instead of
getting a custom mix or more expensive paint that meets the mil standard.

I got the 595 paint colors used on the T-6A from Jerry Esquenazi, who is
an instructor pilot in the USAF at Randolph AFB.  He's also building an
RV-8. He was very helpful and took a bunch of pictures of the T-6A for me.  I
met him and his wife at OSH last year and they are great folks, typical of
other complete strangers I've met in the RV community who are willing to
go out of their way to help a fellow builder.

The T-6A 595 paint colors are:

      Red   11136
      White 17925
      Blue  15044
      Yellow 13538
      Black 37038

FYI, the first number indicates gloss level, with "1" meaning high gloss,
"2" meaning a semi-gloss, and "3" meaning flat...so the Black color
referenced here is a very flat black.  I'll probably use a semi-gloss
that doesn't scuff up as easily as the flat paint does.  The yellow color is
only used for Rescue arrows and a few other small panels and placards.

If you want to do anything in vinyl graphics, I got vinyl color charts
from half a dozen different graphics companies listed in the Yeller Pages and
found that AV/GRAFIX (1-800-352-2296 or website at: www.avgrafix.com) has
the vinyl colors that most closely match the 595 paint colors referenced
above (for the red, blue and yellow especially...the black and white are
pretty straightforward of course).  They have an existing catalog of
military placards and may already
have exactly what you need....if not, they do custom stuff too.  Just for
reference, the vinyl I intend to use for my placards is the Avery
Graphics A8 Series:

      Dark Red  A8350-0
      White  A8001-0
      Dark Navy Blue  A8597-0
      Dark Yellow  A8150-0
      Black  A8090-0

You'll probably get a color chart from AV/GRAFIX faster than you will get
Fed Std 595 from the government, so if you're pressed for time you could
use these vinyl colors to find a matching paint, and be close enough that
nobody will know the difference....

Hope this helps you and anyone else who wants to use a military paint
scheme on their personal fighter!

--Mark Navratil
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
RV-8A N2D hoping to paint yet this summer....