Jet Engines Aren’t Silver

Far from it. Actually, after studying these excellent pictures sent to me by my new friend Steve Baker, I am beginning to think jet engines are almost every colour EXCEPT silver!

This is the Pratt & Whitney J58 and these engines are found on the SR-71 Blackbird. I am currently building Revell’s obscenely large 1/48 Blackbird. My goal with the build is to make the finish as weathered and scorched as the real thing.

When I got to the engine part of the build, my first inclination was to reach for some silver paint and call it a day but seeing as these engines are massive and visible, I wanted to have a little more fun with them. I decided to take a closer look at a real J58.

I’m glad I did:

See? There is no silver in there. There is coppery-gold, pale orange, greenish grey, and a pale pink of all things…. but no silver.

So, I tried my hand at replicating all this.

I came pretty close:

Revell went out and provided us builders with some very detailed engines and engine exhaust parts on this kit. Depending on the version, Revell packs two or four engines in the box. So you’ll have plenty of opportunities to make these parts pop. If you are interested in how I did it, you can click this link to my video or click the screen below. Let me know what you think.