• Alaskaball [comrade/them]
    hexagon
    A
    ·
    2 years ago

    Paint adds weight to an airframe, decreasing fuel efficiency and in the case of warframes makes them easier to identify if you add garish colors and for stealth warframes makes them not very stealthy.

    • MerryChristmas [any]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      Okay that's a pretty good reason. But like, why not on commercial jets? Just the fuel thing? They told me capitalism breeds innovation.

      • ultraviolet [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        It's mostly a fuel thing. Paint can add hundreds of pounds of weight to a commerical jet (and darker paints tend to be heavier as well so most go with a light colour) and factoring in how much fuel jets use, and the scale of operations for airlines, it saves a lot of money to go light on the paint.

        • keepcarrot [she/her]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Huh, when I'm painting at home, lighter coloured paints (white, yellow) require more pigment to avoid being see-through.

      • Alaskaball [comrade/them]
        hexagon
        A
        ·
        2 years ago

        What @ultraviolet said. Planes made in the u.s use white paint as their default coat that covers up and smooths out to form the aerodynamic surface of the plane. From my understanding, all the other colors you see on planes, like DHL's piss yellow, Delta's naval blue with red highlights, America airlines' :amerikkka: and etc. All of those are painted onto the base coat.