Don talks about making some scale color changes to your GWS orange props.

From : Don Stackhouse

You don't have to put up with the orange props. We recently switched to GWS props with the introduction of our new MPS-1A and MPS-2A motor/prop/gearbox systems, in part because of the availability, partly because of the small efficiency increase they seemed to have over the props we'd been using previously, and partly because of the wider range of sizes that could be adapted, allowing us to better deal with things like higher altitude operations, and more powerful multiple motor systems. However, our Roadkill Series models are all scale models, and that orange color was a problem.

Fortunately they respond well to permanent felt markers. On some like the Boeing B-17 (which had metal props) I color them all black (including all the nooks and crannies around the hub area) except for the tips. One coat may be enough, but if there is still orange showing through, let it dry and then apply a second coat. The marker ink is so thin that it adds essentially no weight, and does not significantly affect the balance. I paint the tips yellow with some of the water-based acrylic paint Tamiya sells for painting Lexan R/C car bodies.

On more vintage airplanes where a wooden prop looks more appropriate, I color them with a brown felt marker. This doesn't cover as well, and even with two coats it tends to have a lot of streaking. This is actually an advantage. By making sure your coloring strokes are all spanwise and by trying to keep them running as long and continuous as possible from hub to tip, it creates a very impressive wood-grain effect.

I then paint the leading edges with brass-colored paint using a fine brush to simulate the brass leading edge sheathing typical of antique wooden props. I usually use the Tamiya paint for this as well, although other types should probably also work. Testor's enamel should work very well except that it takes a couple days to fully dry, instead of the minutes that the acrylic paint requires (I'm usually in too much of a hurry at that point in the project to wait that long). I don't have any brass colored Tamiya paint in my collection (in fact I'm not sure if they even make that color), so I mix my own, using about one part red, one or two parts yellow and three or four parts chrome silver. You won't need much. Mix it in an empty 35mm film cannister and you can save the leftovers for next time.

Don Stackhouse
DJ Aerotech