Metallic Finishes on Modern USAF Aircraft

[Mossie]

Some F-22's & V-22's have a metallic finish to their paintwork.  What gives the finish & what's the purpose of it?  I'm guessing it's something to do with stealth & is some kind of metallic compund, rather than actual metal.  The high reflectivity seems to cancel out some of the stealth aspect though, surely the aircraft is highly visible at a distance?

Or is just because it the brass has a thing for the bling? 

Simon. 

[Mossie]

No ideas? 

[jcf]

Nobody really knows as the none of the folks in the know are talking.

Two conjectured possibilities are that it may have something to do with IR emissions reduction or 'optical stealth'.

Oddly enough an increased albedo can improve 'optical stealth' characteristics and actually make the aircraft harder
to acquire at a distance.
Query Project Yehudi or Yehudi Lights.

Jon

[Mossie]

Interesting stuff on Project Yehudi Jon, thanks for that.  My next question was that would it be useful on attack helicopters.  If Yehudi Lights on an Avenger enabled it to get within two miles of a target then I would guess that a modern approach would be at least as effective.

I did read something some time ago about research that was being carried out on a low level electrical current being applied to an aircrafts skin to render it 'invisible' at visible wavelengths.  My guess was that it was to produce a corona of some kind, although it could equally be some kind of lighting to produce isoluminance.  A metallic coating would of course help the generation of a cuurent.

[nev]

Thing is Simon, the metallic look isn't always visible - it depends on the lighting conditions, and often looks like just a regular matt paint finish

Check out this thread http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=181175

for some F-16s that also appear to be in the same metallic paint

[Mossie]

Thanks Nev, I hadn't realised it had been applied to F-16's.  Those F-16's look quite different to the F-22's & V-22's, they almost look filthy.  Looking at the markings, it seems that the coating has been applied over the top of the existing paintwork?

[cthulhu77]

  Look at the chromatophors of cuttlefish, and you will make the connection. It is neat stuff, definitely cutting edge tech.

[Mossie]

I think I get you, cuttlefish can change colour to camouflage themselves but can also produce a bright metallic colouration for signalling.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

How is this to be replicated in scale?  What paint colours would be used to concoct this particular finish.  I know the question has been asked before, possible in the F-22 (c)Raptor topic but this would be a good place to post an explanation on how to model that paint scheme. 

[jcf]

How is this to be replicated in scale?  What paint colours would be used to concoct this particular finish.  I know the question has been asked before, possible in the F-22 (c)Raptor topic but this would be a good place to post an explanation on how to model that paint scheme. 

Here is how Jim Rotramel did it:
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal8/7501-7600/gal7545-F-22-Rotramel/00.shtm

Jon

[Mossie]

Tom replicated it too on his F/A-23:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php?page=

[ytown2010]

sorry for resurrecting the thread, but what colors would you use on MS Paint to replicate that on a profile? especially F-15s.