Fundekals Operation Bolo Colors

[Brad Sahfer]

Here's one for all the Phantom Phanatics and particularly for the people at Fundekals.

 

The Bolo instructions clearly say that the undersides of these planes were gloss white, and there is certainly support for that.

 

However, if you look at the photo at the top right on page 13 of the 1/32nd scale instructions (37-683), you'll see that the tip of the starboard "horizontal" stabilizer is much lighter than the rest of the stabilizer.  I have a much better copy of this photo in an old Squadron/Signal publication and its clear.  If you look at the many of the color MacSorley photos, you know that the stabilizer tips of many of these aircraft were painted white.

 

So, if the tips of 37-683's stabilizers are white, and the rest of the undersides of the stabilizers is much darker (as in the photo), what's the color of the undersides of the stabilizers (and why may the color be different from the rest of the aircraft)?

 

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.    

[cmayer]

Hi Brad -

I'm not formally one "of the people at Fundekals," but I did help Jennings with the research for that sheet as well as the aircraft profiles and information within the accompanying instruction manual. 

 

Based on your question, I re-looked at that B&W photo of 63-7683 you point out on p. 13; and while I do see the tonal difference in both stabilizer tips and the overall color of the underside of the stabs, I stand by our judgment that '7683 in particular, and most of the pre-Block 25 F-4Cs in the 8 TFW during 1966-1967 had white bellies.

 

In this particular photo, if you look at the light tones of the undersides of the wings and aft fuselage, you can easily see that the underside of the wings matches the tonal qualities of the (white) underwing stores pylons (the inboard pylons are still the original white, Navy-style LAU-17 missile rails) the (white) AIM-7s in the forward wells, as well as the (white) centerline tank. Additionally, you can see light reflections on the undersurface of the wings consistent with a gloss finish including reflections of light due to a low sun angle from the pylons themselves on the surface of the wing. Also prominent on the lower-aft fuselage are the red turbine stripes (look just behind the aft-most high-drag Mk-82 fin on the port outboard MER), which were not typically masked or re-painted on aircraft with the FS36622 flat gray applied on the lower surfaces.

 

Further, the low-sun angle may be catching the very tip of the starboard stab, and that could account for the apparent brighter, white tone. Notice how the low-sun angle highlights just the tip of the port wing? The right stab tip might also be just below a shadow line: hard to tell with the B&W halftone and resolution of the reproduction.

[Edit: the more I look at this photo, this is exactly what I think is going on: the right stab tip is just below a shadow line and is lit-up by the low sun angle and looks much brighter than the rest of the stab. I'm not even sure if '7683 has the white stab tips seen on other MacSorley images...but I'm keeping the rest of my thoughts in this response as a more in-depth explanation of the white-bellied Phantom era in SEA.]

 

As for the tonal differences of the lower surface of the stabs in comparison to the stab-tips: We don't know if the "white tips" were masked when the camouflage was applied (not very likely -- recall that the upper side of the stabs were also gloss white, with the factory-applied LGG and white scheme), or if crew chiefs painted the white tips later (more likely); in which case the white tips would likely be a "different" variation of white paint, not to mention that those white tips would be much fresher than the ca. 1964 factory white paint applied to the undersurface of the airplane.

 

Also realize that the underside "Gloss White" FS17875 on the Navy/early-USAF scheme was still an "off-white." So, even a fresh coat of FS17875 would have a tonal difference from a stark white paint color. But in this case, you are also looking through 2-3 years of J-79 soot, leaked hydraulic fluid, jet fuel, and other air pollutants on the underside of these aircraft. The influence of J-79 smoke and soot alone would easily explain the tonal differences of the inner sections of the stabilator undersides and the tips.

 

Early Phantoms in the Vietnam era produced huge volumes of engine smoke and soot; much more than updated Phantom engines in the 80s, 90s, and modern era. And, throughout any "era" of F-4 service, it is common to see many hues of red, brown, and black smudges along the lower-aft fuselage, aft portions of the wings, and the stabs from the many fluid leaks through those panel lines and flight controls, as well as the smoke and soot build-up on the fuselage and stabs aft of the jet nozzles.

 

I don't doubt that by spring 1967, as the SEA Theater F-4 depot line built up momentum at the Air Asia facility in Taiwan, that there were F-4Cs returning to the three main theater operating bases (Ubon, Cam Ranh Bay, and Da Nang) with freshly painted gray 36622 bellies, but this photo of '7683 in late 1966 or early 1967 shows a well-used and dirty, original gloss white underside.

 

HTH, Chris Mayer

Edited June 9, 2021 by cmayer

[Brad Sahfer]

Thank you very much for your time and thoughts.  In my better picture, because of the reflection at the wing dihedral point, I had also concluded that at least the rest of the belly was gloss white.

 

But since you were one of the researchers, I'd like to run another hypothesis by you to get your thoughts.

 

The Fundekals instructions talk about the stabilizers being replaced together (I assume in the Philippines) to add the leading edge stiffeners.  The picture of 37-683 (spoiler alert:  that's the one I'm modelling) clearly shows the later stiffened stabilizers.

 

Would it possible that if these were replaced in the Philippines, they would have had their undersides painted "standard" FS 36622? 

 

And, BTW, I have other shots of 37-383 and I'm pretty sure it had white tips on the stabilizers. 

 

Thanks again for your time and thoughts.   

[allthumbs]

20 hours ago, cmayer said:

 

 …the low-sun angle may be catching the very tip of the starboard stab, and that could account for the apparent brighter, white tone…

This almost certainly explains the “whiteness” of the lower stab tip, especially given the presence of a small air dam in this location capable of reflecting (or shading) light differently than its immediate surroundings …

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by allthumbs