Great camo

[liotczik]

Yes, it's from Radom 2009. One from a collection of photos, I can't fully enjoy... :(

[Vekkinho]

Liotczik, I kinda wonder if that Mi-8/17 would blend even better i this photo was taken during night with a IR camera, those digital pixels would blend with the camera noise!

 

;)

[liotczik]

Honestly, I don't have any information, if it was designed specifically to fool NVG equipment. There were experiments with camouflage patterns designed to make user literally invisible while observed through night vision, one of the most famous was the US Desert Night Camo http://www.factsurplus.co.uk/images/10247_orig.jpg Supposedly it worked real miracles, but only with I and maybe II Gen devices, more modern goggles had higher resolution and negated the whole effect, so the pattern was dropped from the army.

 

Another thing is that, there are slightly different considerations for the pattern to be effective in visual light or in infrared light. For the first, you need the right colour and shape. For the latter you need the right materials, like paint and fabric. I remember one instance, when during the '50s or '60s there was an infantry uniform reinforced with some flame retardant fabric, like asbestos. A good idea, apart from the fact that asbestos is toxic and causes cancer, but the real surprise was that, the new uniform glowed like headlights of a truck in infrared light :D The new uniforms were quickly dropped in favor of the old design.

 

However, there are some notable differencies between camouflage rules for land forces and aircraft. As for infantry and vehicles, you may be surprised, but studies have shown, that the best night camo is the same as worn during daylight, in terms of masking user in visible light. All the blue, black and grey patterns are for Hollywood, because they actually make you more visible during night, than standard day patterns. And the day pattern depends on the surroundings: green for temperate, yellow for desert and white for snow (in general, as there are some variations and additional considerations to this simplified division).

 

As for the aircraft, the matter is more complicated, because you have to take into account not only the surrounding (like time of year or land/sea), but also the altitude it will be operating on. There are different patterns for low level attack planes and different for hi-alt bombers and fighters. One interesting example showing an effort to combine both effects in one pattern, were camo schemes of Bf-109's. Upper surfaces were painted in splitter camo, to conceal plane while on the ground and in low level flight, where most likely it would be observed by the enemy from above. At he same time, side and lower surfaces were painted in light blue-grey, to help blend aircraft with the sky at high altitudes, because there it was reasonable to suppose, that the enemy will see them there from aside or from below.

 

Another really interesting story are camo schemes for night bombers and night fighters. At first they were painted all black, but it was soon dropped, because black upper surfaces were fantastically visible while put against clouds. That's while upper wings and fuselage were started to be painted in various lighter camo patterns. As for the black paint, it was really good in hiding planes under black night sky. Over a certain altitude you were totally invisible, no matter how strong would be the search lights on the ground (although that didn't applied so well to enemy night fighters, because they always could close the distance to a point, that they could see black silhouette against dark navy-blue sky).

 

It's a really really long story when it comes to aircraft camouflage, with all the countershadowing, blending vs. fooling, special schemes (like white anti-flash) and quick ID marks and more like that.

 

As for the pixel camo, it was mainly designed to overcome a certain property of traditional camo patterns, which makes them effective only at a specific distance. Patterns with small elements are good in close quarters, but stand out at longer distances. Patterns with large elements do the opposite. But pixel patterns (and flecktarn German pattern before it) have the quality to combine both effects. At close you see chaotic pixels, but at long distance the single pixels become organised in larger patern, that still works well. It works just like fractals or modern computer graphics do: no matter what zoom you'll set, the image always looks good.

[159th_Viper]

SAAF Mirage in the Angolan Bush War

 

[Vekkinho]

Very well written Liotczik!

[zakobi]

Very well written Liotczik!

 

Nahh, he just took it from Wikipedia :smilewink:

It was well writen, it sure was.

On other hand, write it under camo or something like that. :thumbup:

[liotczik]

All was written from memory :P As I'm a sort of camouflage junkie :D But I have to confess, that I've checked 3 times with the dictionary for missing words, because English isn't my native language.

 

New Russian Air Force patterns are very interesting:

http://altair.com.pl/files/news/2009/12/i-i09-12-034pak-fa.jpg

http://altair.com.pl/files/news/2009/12/i-i09-12-017skm.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WE1irOIooUQ/RyYKc4YG8mI/AAAAAAAAAxA/rtOpOSRgo-g/s400/Sukhoi+T-50+PAK+FA+pakfa_india.jpg

[topol-m]

:P

 

[jpm1]

my favorite so far

[jpm1]

[topol-m]

[VTJS17_Fire]

:P

 

 

WOW, amazing! :thumbup:

Would like to see it in FC 2.0! :music_whistling:

 

 

kind regards,

Fire

[zakobi]

What's up with tigerstripes?

[Panzertard]

What's up with tigerstripes?

It made me think of Rod Stewarts pants ^^

Okai, I need a brain-rinse please.

[Namenlos Ein]

Indian Tetris camouflage.

I know, I know, this is not an aircraft.

[Booger]

 

Best paint scheme ever.

[Namenlos Ein]

Indian MiG-27.

 

[Baal1606687932]

Hungarian Air Force Mi-24V-1 716 'Csörkie II'

Public debut at the Kecskemet Air Show in Hungary on August 7-8

Photo source:

http://www.jetfly.hu/rovatok/jetfly/sajtotajekoztato_a_nemzetkozi_repulonaprol/

[Pilotasso]

seen it before, but yes that one takes the cake for me! Muahahaha terror given back for the taleban! :D

[jpm1]

 

 

Edited January 29, 2011 by jpm1

[Demokrator]

 

:thumbup:

[Smittie]

SAAF Mirage in the Angolan Bush War

 

 

This photo of the Mirage F1AZ was not taken during the Angolan war. The eagle within the SAAF emblem was only applied to the South African Air Force aircraft after 1994. I would recommend the book "Vlamgat" written by Dick Lord for anyone who is interested in the history of the Mirage F1AZ and CZ in the South African Air Force:pilotfly:

[Avilator]

I particularly like this camo.

[zakobi]

[topol-m]