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Shining versus flat military aircraft. The undisputable truth!

I have found that unfortunately "shiny" has been taken to mean "reflective" sometimes, which is a different thing, and adjusted in a different way. You will be hard pressed not to find a plane with a matte/flat finish, that still has a good amount of shine to it, at varying levels of course depending on the make-up of the paint - how thick it is, how faded it is, etc. Concentrated light on a matte surface, can most often times look just like a glossy surface under the same conditions, especially from afar. I have seen some very shiny aircraft as well, with next to no reflectivity, because of the make up of the paint - an example of this is the overall dark-sea blue used on Navy aircraft late in WWII. Thankfully with FSX materials, all of this can be adjusted as far as the developer's heart desires, more specifically to each paint scheme instead of each model like it was in FS9 and before.
 
Tigisfat is down at Dyess AFB in Texas. Bone country. (sorry to steal your thunder :icon_lol:)

Fresh paint on a Mirage is definitely matt when fresh but over time starts to take on a satin and sometimes glossy finish. This is from the air friction.
:ernae:
 
fsafranek said:
Tigisfat is down at Dyess AFB in Texas. Bone country. (sorry to steal your thunder :icon_lol:)

Fresh paint on a Mirage is definitely matt when fresh but over time starts to take on a satin and sometimes glossy finish. This is from the air friction.
:ernae:
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Ahhh, ok. . .I used to take a drive with the PMEL Supervisor about once a month out to Dyess to drop off all our equipment that required calibration. He didn't like driving alone (it's about 2hrs from Carswell), so he'd ask around to the different shops to see who wanted to tag along, lol.
 
PRB said:
I can't think of a better way to start a debate (a.k.a. "food fight") in a thread than to declare that it isn't a debate thread because "I'm here to tell ya the way it is!" :d And Mud is right. Real airplanes these are not. So, the debate will continue as long as artists are "painting" them.
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Well.....

I may very well be wrong, but I don't think there's anyone else here who works on gunship gray aircraft every day. I started this thread to tell the cold hard facts about what the real life jets look like. There really isn't a debate.

However, People can debate, make and buy FSX aircraft however they want them and feel they're right because it's a hobby, but this is how gunship gray is (B-52, B-1, C-5, C-17, C-141, KC-10, F-15E....).

I've also enjoyed the perspective from those like falcon409 who've shared their fighter experience.
 
I can share my Marine Corps airwing years around hundreds of "grey" aircraft. I can safely say that they were gray......you betcha!:icon_lol:
 
Just an FYI, the F-22 and the newer V-22s are not flat grays, in the typical sense. They're using the new metallic paint which apparently reduces IR signature. I thought it was to reflect more diffuse light at a distance, sort of a passive yehudi lights effect, but I think it looks cool anyway. Here are some pics so you can see what I'm talking about.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Marines/Bell-Boeing-MV-22B-Osprey/1407232/L/

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Marines/Bell-Boeing-MV-22B-Osprey/1461329/L/

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Lockheed-Martin-F-22A/1577970/L/

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Lockheed-Martin-F-22A/1504160/L/

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Lockheed-Martin-F-22A/1475820/L/
 
indeed mud.

Tig's remember theres rather a large amount of members here that are active or ex-active armed forces personnel from around the world :kilroy:

And remember your cold hard facts are from aircraft you have been with, and I doubt many of them were wearing RAF liveries, Luftwaffe liveries, greek etc etc. :engel016:
 
Lewis-A2A said:
indeed mud.

Tig's remember theres rather a large amount of members here that are active or ex-active armed forces personnel from around the world :kilroy:

And remember your cold hard facts are from aircraft you have been with, and I doubt many of them were wearing RAF liveries, Luftwaffe liveries, greek etc etc. :engel016:
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I know very well that there are many people here with great aviation experience, in quite a few cases exceeding my own; that's why I must again insist that I'm only talking about gunship gray. I don't think there's anyone else here with experience on gunship gray aircraft. Well, I guess that depends on how long ago our BUFF troops were on the line. There were a few painted gunship gray in the late 80's. Modern gunship gray is different anyway.
 
Well, my experience working on FA-18Cs and A-7Es painted grey is that they were more shiny when the paint was older. When freshly painted, the flat paint looked, well, flat. But after being scrubbed day after day the finish took on a more shiny appearance. Perhaps the rough finish associated with fresh paint got sort of “polished” over time by the plane captains rubbing on them with rags and cleaning compound, but whatever the cause, the freshly painted ones were “flatter”. Go figure.
 
Sundog said:
Just an FYI, the F-22 and the newer V-22s are not flat grays, in the typical sense. They're using the new metallic paint which apparently reduces IR signature. I thought it was to reflect more diffuse light at a distance, sort of a passive yehudi lights effect, but I think it looks cool anyway. Here are some pics so you can see what I'm talking about.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Lockheed-Martin-F-22A/1577970/L/

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Lockheed-Martin-F-22A/1504160/L/

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Lockheed-Martin-F-22A/1475820/L/
Click to expand...

Dear Milviz/FSD...please take these into consideration when making the paints for the F-22
 
PRB said:
Well, my experience working on FA-18Cs and A-7Es painted grey is that they were more shiny when the paint was older. When freshly painted, the flat paint looked, well, flat. But after being scrubbed day after day the finish took on a more shiny appearance. Perhaps the rough finish associated with fresh paint got sort of “polished” over time by the plane captains rubbing on them with rags and cleaning compound, but whatever the cause, the freshly painted ones were “flatter”. Go figure.
Click to expand...
Just look at the keys on your keyboard. Those that are used a lot or where you rest your hands will have an almost mirror-like surface.
 
Using my best Helldiver imitation:

Back in my day when we had real airplanes and real pilots, not electronic toys and techo wizards as pilots, they were all painted jungle camouflage.

They were also often dirty. No time to wash an airplane when you have to turn it for the next mission while dogging VC mortar rounds.

Sorry HD :) You know we all love and respect you. I am in one of my silly moods and couldn't pass up the chance to tease you.

:medals:
 
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