Boeing interior cockpit colours

[Tony]

Hi all,

What are the RAL colours of the cockpit pse ?

Kind regards

[ekezz]

At http://www.fagerjord.org/cockpit/index.php?id=thingys I found the following suggestion:



The color code RAL 7011 "Eisblau" is a very good "Boeing grey" candidate, and are used by a lot of builders.

[Tony]

If I remember correctly, there were at least 3 boeing "grey" colours.
Im particularly interested in the colours for the interior of the cockpit, e.g.
the walls and the avionics box.

[NicD]

I tried to find the same information but in the end I've had to guess the color from photos. This is not easy because some photos are taken with flash, some without; some in the day, some at night; all of which change the color hue significantly.

As far as I can tell there are 4 distinct main colors:

1. Boeing grey (darker grey similar to RAL7011) - instrument panel surfaces, side trim parts, window trim, eyebrow trim.

2. Light grey - side trims, side pedestals

3. Mid/muted blue - rear walls (jump seat, bulkheads, door etc.)

4. Off-white - avionics pedestal sides, CDU pedestal front (and possibly ceiling trim?)

I suggest you study as many photos as you can from places like Airliners.net.

Airline staff that I know have assured me that in the real aircraft there is significant color variation. Old and new parts are swapped in and out and there is some variation between series too. So if the real operators aren't too fussed about it then neither should we I guess :)

[Michael Carter]

My 727 MIP is sort of a medium gray. I don't really know the shade.

A very close match that I've used for my center control stand, overhead, throttle, and refinishing the 727 MIP is Krylon Rust Tough Battleship Gray #9206. Around my area, this paint has all but dried up. I had to order from a hardware way outside of my area to get any more of it. I have a case standing by, all from the same lot number.

If you look closely at this photo, you can see the two colors side by side:

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/8192/727gspo1.jpg

It is difficult to tell depending upon the light as someone mentioned. The Krylon is used over to the engine instrument panel and the original Boeing Gray is from there to the right.

An exception is the landing gear panel. That is painted a really dark Boeing Gray.

EDITED TO ADD: The RT box is NOT the Krylon paint. That was a test spray for another shade I was considering. It has too much blue and not enough gray in it. Disregard the RT box.

[Tony]

Thank you guys for all the info so far.
.. and I thought painting would be the easiest part...

[Bob Reed]

Might I make a suggestion? Find a color that is close that you can get local and go with it. Have you ever seen the pictures of the cockpit of a working air craft? They don't spend much time color matching there stuff.

[Paul Thomas]

Might I make a suggestion? Find a color that is close that you can get local and go with it. Have you ever seen the pictures of the cockpit of a working air craft? They don't spend much time color matching there stuff.

A very good advice Bob. No reason to make it more "real" than the real thing.

[Trevor Hale]

I am sure if you had a real Boeing part, you could take it to the paint store and they could color match it.

Regards,

Trev

[Michael Carter]

I thought about doing that myself with nearly all of my equipment being Boeing, but since very few have ever seen the inside of a Boeing cockpit, who would know if it wasn't an exact match?

As I look up at my overhead from where I sit here, I have three different shades of gray. Two Boeing, and one Krylon.

[dnoize]

we should not get too freaky about the "real boeing grey". Although there is an official colour number for it, I have yet to see the inside of a 737 where all the panels match. I have several real panels from a 737 here...none of their colours match exactly and all have original boeing factory painting.

I have been in quite a number of NG's so far and even within a pedestal or MIP there are consideral differences to the shades used, depending on when the part was mounted. even 2 radios next to eachother sometimes have a different shade. I have even seen 737's with boeing brown parts.

So i think Bob's advice is very good in this: Take some of your panels to a painter and ask him to make a shade that matches your panels. Much better than the quest to find the `real boeing grey`

Stef

[Michael Carter]

I agree if you have a Boeing (or Airbus or Lockheed) panel and really want everything to match. I sort of like building a 30-something year old aircraft where I don't have to worry much about it.

However, just to throw a wrench into the works, Boeing paint colors also have a reflective standard for the panels. The only way to get this right is to take a panel and explain exactly the way it has to be, or it's a no-go.

If that's what you like, that is. I can tell you now from all of the Boeing panels I have of differing shades of 'Boeing Gray', all of them have the same reflectivity.