

|
![]() |
Modérateur : master194
Bref, selon vous, quelle couleur est la bonne ?La première phrase que l’on lit dans sa première référence, l’indispensable Ipms Stockholm, c’est :
« Sorting out the interior colours of the Corsair is particularly tricky. »
Je ne le leur fais pas dire…
Comme je ne voudrais pas que vous soyez venus pour rien, je vous donne la suite :
« For the F4U-1 Birdcage Corsairs, photos taken at the time show the cockpits being a very dark colour, most probably black. Analysis of some crashed examples of F4U-1s indicates black, while the factory Erection & Maintenance Instructions called for Dull Dark Green.
As mentioned before, early production Corsairs had their interior surfaces in areas other than the cockpit covered with Salmon primer. This colour mixture was used relatively long into Corsair production. It would seem that all F4U-1s and a number of early F4U-1As were finished this way.
Somewhere during the production of F4U-1A model Vought discontinued the use of Salmon primers and switched to Zinc Chromate Yellow with cockpits in Interior Green.
In the engine cowling area, Vought adhered to the practice of painting its inner surface the same colour as the underside, ANA 602 Sky Gray on early F4U-1s, ANA 601 Insignia White on F4U-1As.
The wheel wells of early model Corsairs deserve closer inspection. Like the cowlings, the main wheel wells, undercarriage legs and both sides of well covers were painted in the underside camouflage colour, ANA 602 Non-specular Sky Gray. Wheel hubs were silver. However, the smaller forward area of the wheel to which the leg itself retracted was left in the factory primer finish, Salmon. Some aircraft had also Salmon inner surfaces of the small covers attached to the undercarriage legs.
The canvas covers in the wells were probably drab-coloured.
With the advent of the tri-colour camouflage on F4U-1A the same principle was applied with white replacing the Sky Gray with ANA 601 Non-specular Insignia White, and the (1) However, the undercarriage legs remained grey throughout the production of this model, possibly due to the failure or indifference to notify a subcontractor about changed colour specifications. For the record, some photos of -1As seem to show silver undercarriage legs, but it could not be established to what extent such finish was applied. One theory is that Aluminium lacquer was applied on these assemblies during field depot overhauls.
In October 1944 the new factory instructions for the F4U production called for application of Interior Green on all internal surfaces including the cockpit. As an anti-glare measure, all cockpit panels above the lower edge of the instrument panel were to be painted matt black. Curiously, the new directive did not explicitly state what was to happen with the cowling's inner surface. Thus, subsequent machines showed either Zinc Chromate or Interior Green cowlings, until the last standardisation of colour post-war whereupon black was introduced in this area.
During that period, the wheel wells were also painted Interior Green.(2) Undercarriage legs were initially still finished in light grey, but as existing stocks of parts were used up at the factory, the overall Glossy Sea Blue finish was carried over to the undercarriage legs and wheel hubs ».
1) D’accord, il y a un trou dans le texte, mais je vous jure que je n’y suis pour rien.
2) Ma moitié avant d’avion est antérieure, d’accord, mais avouez que cette note m’arrange bien !
Dans la seconde référence de Paco (que serions-nous sans lui ?) on peut lire :
« The wheel wells of early model Corsairs deserve closer inspection ».
Ensuite, c’est la même chose…
Sauf que un nouvel intervenant nous affirme que : « However for a factory fresh and most in service F4U-1D, Corsairs the wheel bay would be Zinc Chromate Yellow, close to FS 33481 ». Certes, mais il s’agit de F4U1-D et le mien est un A. Donc passons à autre chose.
Dans la 3e référence pacoïenne, le débat est lancé par quelqu’un qui s’intéresse lui-aussi à la couleur des puits de trains, mais qui commence par écrire :
« I understand these colours are primers, and therefore could vary quite a lot. For that reason I've decided to use an interior green colour for the front wheel bays purely because I like the contrast (Tamiya recommends white - same as the under-surface, but I think green will look nicer). Is this too much of a crime against realism? ».
J’avoue que j’aime bien ce point de vue essentiellement artistique…
Ensuite, on retombe dans le texte Ipms, trou compris.
Dans la 4e référence, la note commence par :
« USN Aircraft Interiors: The answers here are complex ».
Ce qui nous ramène aux angoisses antérieures.
Un peu plus loin dans la note, il est écrit :
« F4U-1A; Cockpit FS 34151 Interior Green. All other areas of the F4U-1A were Zinc Chromate Yellow FS 33481. Early F4U-1A's may have been Salmon. Landing gear was Insignia White. Early a/c may have had Light Gray landing gear. »
Ce qui m’embête bien, car nous voilà ramenés à l’hypothèse Zinchromate, ce qui n’est pas franchement dramatique mais, volà, j’ai déjà pas mal ramé sur les couleurs externes…
Comme j’ai mené mes propres recherches, j’ai trouvé deux discussions tout à fait intéressances chez nos petits camarades d’outre-Manche.
http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/inde ... y-colours/
The answer is it depends on whether the plane was built by Chance Vought or Goodyear, and also if the plane is fresh off the production line or has gone thru rework. Almost all surviving -1 Corsairs were manufactured by Goodyear, and surviving examples have been restored and re-restored.
The best that we can determine is if the plane was built by Goodyear, the struts, wheels wheel wells and wheel door interiors were all painted Gloss Sea Blue. If the plane was manufactured by Chance Vought, the Wheel wells may very well have been left alone in Interior green or a slight variation of YZC yellow, with landing gear struts and wheels in silver lacquer. Gear door interiors could be interior green but more likely may have been gloss sea blue to afford more protection from salt spray.
Even LESS is known about Brewster aircraft but they seem to have followed Vought's production practices until nearly the end when they seem to have switched over to gloss sea blue struts, wheels, and probably the wheel well interiors. Interestingly enough, there's strong circumstantial evidence that Brewster dispensed with the insignia blue surrounding the national insignia to speed production.
http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/inde ... lp-needed/
Question :
Does anyone know when Vought phased out Salmon Pink Primer and replaced it with chromate Yellow/Green - Interior Green primer on the F4U Corsairs?
Réponse :
The orders to drop Indian Red from the second primer coat came in April 1943, though I expect it took a few months to deplete existing stocks of paint and pre-primed parts. Vought's paperwork certainly caught up in August, when Indian Red was eliminated from the finish specs.
At the same time that the Navy ordered the deletion of Indian Red, Vought proposed a "yellow-zinc-chromate-only" primer. If the metal was Alclad, one coat of yellow zinc chromate would do the job. If the metal was any other alloy, the manufacturers would apply one coat of yellow zinc chromate, stamp it with the words "1st Coat" in black ink, then apply a second coat of YELLOW zinc chromate. The words "1st coat" would show through the translucent second coat, proving that there were two coats. This went into effect during the summer of '43. (Note that the first production "-1As" were delivered in the middle of August.) In short, Vought, Brewster, and Goodyear (VBG) did not use Interior Green as a primer coat.
Cockpits were a different matter. Also in April 1943, the Navy told VBG to use up their stocks of Dull Dark Green, then switch to Interior Green as a cockpit color. Surviving aircraft suggest that this took place sometime between July and September, with lots of pre-painted DDG components still in use well into the autumn. (The change could have occured in final models of the Birdcage Corsair, but the record is murky.) Vought got a waiver to use aluminized zinc chromate ("candy apple green" in the cockpits - they found some pre-mixed stocks they wanted to use up. There's no record of how many aircraft received the bright cockpits, but I suspect it couldn't have been very many. (Brewster and Goodyear did not have aluminized zinc chromate to use up, and went directly to Interior Green.)
Keep in my Vought's technical orders also specified that the main wheel wells were to receive a final coat of light sea gray and the same was true for the engine cowling (which was painted lsg throughout Corsair production).
The only evidence ever found of salmon being visible in an exposed area was the tail wheel well area of the Michigan Corsair.
Remarque :
Scooby, hello there, knew about the "Neutral" grey interiors to the engine cowlings, found an article all about that over on Hyperscale, but wasn't aware of this colour being used in the main undercarriage bays, will have to look into that subject a bit more as most of the photo's of French Corsairs show the main wheel bays to be painted in a very dark colour similar to to the Glass Dark Sea Blue used on the airframe. Please do not take this as an I don't believe you, as it is not.
According the tri tones scheme given by Vought(factory drawing 1942/43),
- the wheel well(& ldg ) were "non specular light gray" or "white" when the center section end rib was "non specular intermediate blue" - interior cowling & interior cowl flaps : "non specular intermediate blue" or "light gray"
in the new scheme overall gloss sea blue(1944) which supersedes the previous drawing,
- the wheel well were "non specular light gray" , "white", "sea blue gloss", "non spec or semi gloss sea blue"
- center section & outer panel: "non specular intermediate blue" , "sea blue gloss", "non spec or semi gloss sea blue"
- interior cowling & interior cowl flaps : "sea blue gloss", "non spec or semi gloss sea blue"
- ldg mechanism was "non specular light gray" , "white", "alu", "sea blue gloss", "non spec or semi gloss sea blue"
Bref, quand on met bout à bout les diverses interventions on peut conclure que :
1) Le sujet de la peinture des Corsairs est compliqué et rien n’est certain.
2) Les puits de trains pouvaient être zinchromate, vert intérieur, blanc, gris clair, bleu-des-mers-du-Sud brillant ou non…
Il indique probablement Insignia White ou Light Gray pour les puits de train...The "F4U-1A" first arrived at a transition time (summer 1943) in Navy interior colors, so you're going to have some choices.
The cowl interior was specified as Light Gray (using up leftover camouflage paint) or Intermediate Blue (using up new camouflage paint). These colors would also apply to Brewster and Goodyear production.
The second coat of interior primer was originally "salmon" (red-tinted zinc chromate), but in spring 1943 the Navy ordered the elimination of this color. The three companies were allowed to used two coats of untinted zinc chromate (yellow) once they used up their stocks of red-tinted primer. The only use of Interior Green would have been in the cockpit. A decent stock of outer wing panels from Briggs would have already been primed with salmon, which only matters if you're exposing the gun bays.
As for the cockpit, some of the early -1As may have been Dull Dark Green, but that seems unlikely - it depends on how much of that paint was still in stock. (Brewster, being the slowest manufacturer, may have had large stocks of this lacquer.) Vought seems to have switched to a bright candy-apple green late in Birdcage production - the company found stocks of aluminized zinc chromate (with no black tint) and the Navy granted permission to use this as a cockpit color. When it was used up, Vought switched to Interior Green (zinc chromate and black tint). Small cockpit components were delivered in Dull Dark Green from subcontractors, and were left that color when installed. DDG seats may have remained that color by design.
Wheel wells were to be White or Light Gray; White would have been easiest - spraying the paint while camouflaging the underside, but photos suggest some use of Light Gray (again using up the stocks?) Landing Gear mechanisms were to have been either of the same two colors, but some photos show continued (if inconsistent) use of aluminized lacquer even in late -1A production.
One last note on exterior colors for all pattern variations on the -1A. You have options of four colors, with variations. The white is an off-white. Intermediate Blue would always be seen on the vertical fin and under the outer wing panels (and frequently on the fuselage sides) - when faded, expect major differences between the lacquered metal surfaces and the doped fabric surfaces (which ran all the way to the wingtip). Also, the blue pigments in Intermediate Blue faded first, leaving an "Intermediate Pink" that crews complained about to BuAer. Nonspecular Sea Blue was used on the fuselage and leading edges of the wings and tail. Semigloss Sea Blue - a stronger hue, not just a different gloss - was used above the wings and stabilizers, again with differences between doped and lacquered surfaces.
Hopefully, lots of options will be more useful than a simple "it was thus" - my two years digging though Navy records on the early Corsair revealed more options than hard answers. Good luck and lots of joy with the build.
Hello "chien noir"BlackDog a écrit :Je viens de trouver ce post de Dana Bell, qui est l'auteur de plusieurs ouvrages sur le Corsair et qui fait autorité sur le sujet (ça ne veut pas dire qu'il a 100% raison, d'ailleurs il est incertain lui-même :
Il indique probablement Insignia White ou Light Gray pour les puits de train...
Et j'ai lu un post sur un autre site de quelqu'un ayant travaillé sur un bouquin avec Dana Bell (j'ai vérifié sur le bouquin, c'est exact) et qui indique 'him'.Dana Bell is a leading expert on the history of aviation. Now retired after thirty years with the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, he was formerly Technical Information Specialist at the NASM Archives and also worked at the U.S. Air Force Still Photo Depository. He is the author of more than twenty books on aviation subjects, including At the Controls; Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Directory of Airplanes; and One Hundred Years of World Military Aircraft.
HelloBlackDog a écrit :J'ai peint les puits de train en Insignia White, que j'ai un peu "chipped" pour montrer quelques traces de Yellow Zinc Chromate.
Par contre comme lu sur un post, j'ai laissé la partie avant des puits de train en Yellow Zinc Chromate. Hérésie ? Je peux toujours couvrir de blanc. Merci aux spécialistes pour leurs lumières![]()
Je suis parti pour cette solution également.BlackDog a écrit :Si je lis bien certains posts de Dana Bell, cela laisse penser que l'ensemble des baies de train étaient de la couleur de l'intrados, c'est-à-dire gris clair sur les premiers Birdcage, puis Insignia White sur les livrées plus récentes. Je pense donc passer une couche de blanc sur les parties avants des puits de train...
+ 1Emmanuel a écrit :Et bien, il va être exceptionnel celui-là.