Return to Colors

Aircraft

1927
USCG standardizes the Blue and Silver paint scheme.
Fuselage (Land based): Blue
Fuselage (Seaplanes): Blue above waterline and silver below waterline
Upper wing surfaces: Chrome yellow
Under wing surfaces: Silver
Nacelles: Silver
Cowls: Blue
Vertical stabilizer: Divided into 3 equal vertical stripes of red, white and blue
National Insignia: None
Coast Guard Insignia: Emblem with yellow anchors

1936
Pre-war Navy scheme
Fuselage: Silver
Upper wing surfaces: Chrome yellow
Lower wing surfaces: Silver
Vertical Stabilizer: Upper 1/3 blue, lower 2/3 divided into 5 stripes of red and white
National Insignia: None
Coast Guard Insignia: Emblem with yellow anchors

1940
WWII Navy schemes
Combatants: Blue over Gray, Blue over Blue over White, Overall Blue
Non-combatants: WWII Silver

1946
Post-war Silver
Overall: Silver
Wingtip and fuselage SAR markings: Chrome yellow
National Insignia: Stars and bars
Coast Guard Insignia: Emblem with yellow anchors

1952
1952 White Scheme
Fuselage (Land based): White upper half and bare metal lower half separated by black stripe
Fuselage (Seaplanes): White upper half and painted silver lower half separated by black stripe
Fuselage (Amphibians): Overall white
Nose and wing SAR markings: High visibilty dayglow orange
Helicopters: Overall chrome yellow
National Insignia: Stars and bars
Coast Guard Insignia: Emblem

1954
1954 White Scheme
It was noted that the hi vis orange faded quickly so it was replaced with an orange-red color.

1960
1960 White Scheme
All aircraft went to an overall white scheme with orange-red SAR markings
All helos went with the same scheme
ICEDET helos were painted overall orange red
National Insignia: Stars and bars
Coast Guard Insignia: Emblem with white anchors

1967
Modern Scheme
Racing stripe and “Coast Guard” added to all aircraft and helos.

1974
HH-65s delivered: original paint scheme was overall white.
ICEDET aircraft still overall orange red.

1980
All HH-65s painted in ICEDET color.
The HH-65 color is more orange than the racing stripe color.
The racing stripe color is more red than the HH-65 color.

1995
“Coast Guard” is changed to “U.S. Coast Guard”
The Manuals

1952 Version
2007 Version

So What Are the Colors?
The FS 595 FSNs are:
Coast Guard Red: 12199
International Orange: 12197
Coast Guard Blue: 15183
White: 17875

So What Paint Do You Use?
This has been debated many times in model forums
Model Master once made Coast Guard Red, Orange and Blue paints
They were based on the 1950 Paint and Color Manual and would be good for that time period
But the are out of production

The consensus of opinion seems to be that Model Master Chevy Engine Red is the closest match to 12199
Having said that, it does not hold for the HH-65
Chevy Engine Red is too red for the 65, which is more orange than red
International Orange is too orange for the 65
A 50/50 mix of CER and IO approximates the 65 color
I use Model Master Cobalt Blue for the 15183