I know the Chariot's top panel was red (or orange as some prefer) at some point, even for the location fx footage. But there is at least one photo of the early unrestored 24" with an aluminum panel under the searchlights and scanner dish, and I just can't figure out how even in b&w a red or orange panel could look as light as it does in this attachment. Shouldn't it seem darker than the spotlights?
This is a shot of the Chariot with the alternate spotlights, too. Did the color of that panel change from aluminum to red with the face lift and interior redressing?

Quite probably, because that shot came from the pilot film, No Place To Hide, and later incorported into There Were Giants In The Earth.
That version of the chariot had no dashboard control panels, either.

Here's an early COLOR video of the Chariot someone linked awhile back. Enjoy!
( And yes, it DOES look a little more red, than orange! Also, notice the radar dish looks more silver than black. )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS5BQBOou1w&feature=related

Sincerely,
Scorp.

"Boldly GO!" :wave:

Thanks. I've got a good screen grab from the Forever (Anthology ?) DVD that shows that panel clearly red. That on-location version of the Chariot has the spotlights on stalks centered directly behind them. The version I'm wondering about is the one as attached above, with the stalks offset outboard of the spots. (There are interior ceiling differences that seem to match the two spotlight versions.)
What's really odd is that while the location fx was done very early on, so was the pilot episode, yet they show the Chariot in two subtly different dressings. I'm wondering if the offset spotlight version might have had an aluminum colored roof panel. It just doesn't look as dark as I'd expect in b&w shots if it were red. Or orange. Compared to the lights and frame. Optical delusion?
While the roof panel and interior ribs appear to be a shade of red, the Thiokol chassis is pure Thiokol orange, and the seats are pure Irwin Allen even-oranger, and another thread debated the red primer that seems to come and go at will on the treads.