Good day all,

I am just about to start work on the Tamiya 1/48 Grumman F4F kit. I plan to do it up as a Martlatt with the Eagle Strike decal set. My plan is to do it with the 1943 Salerno markings (my grandfather fought there and maybe saw this thing flying around).

I have a few questions about painting this aircraft.

1. What would the interior have been painted since it was lend lease? Would the cockpit be RAF interior green or American interior green? Same for areas like the landing gear? Would they been zinc chromate green?

2. I prefer to use Tamiya paint so what colours would correspond best for this. I plan to use Sky for the underside but what would be the best for the camo pattern. It says FS 34159 for the green and FS 36173/36118. Would I be able to use any of the following Tamiya colours?

- XF 81 Dark Green 2 (RAF)
- XF 82 Ocean Gray 2 (RAF)
- XF 83 Medium Sea Grey 2 (RAF)

Thanks in advance.

Cam

The three colours you quote were for the RAF Day Fighter Scheme, but the Fleet Air Arm's usual was the Temperate Sea Scheme, which was Extra Dark Sea Grey & Slate Grey over Sky. Slate Grey has been matched to 34096, and EDSG to 36118, with Sky at 34504.
It's impossible to be absolutely sure, but, as far as we know, lend-lease aircraft were painted, internally, in exactly the same way as those for the U.S. forces.
Edgar

RN fighters were painted in Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey. EDSG was considerably darker than XF82 Ocean Grey and Dark Slate Grey was a greyish green similar to German Field Grey. This is complicated by the fact that lend-lease aircraft were painted in the nearest American equivalent paints rather than British paint. The interiors would have been painted the same as contemporary American aircraft although some of the equipment (radios, harness, possibly the joystick grip) would have been to British standards. Tamiya does a Field Grey that would be a good match for Dark Slate Grey and the Extra Dark Sea Grey can be mixed up by adding a bit of black to your Ocean Grey. Don't worry about being a little off; the differences can be explained as American paint faded by sunlight

J

Thanks for the help!

I really like to use Tamiya so using German Field Grey and Ocean Grey with a little black sounds like the best solution for me.

However, I do want to get as close as possible so are there any companies that make the exact paint colours for this scheme?

Cam

Yes, Xtracolor makes X005 Extra Dark Sea Grey X025 and Dark Slate Grey. These are gloss enamels. Xtracrylix acrylic colours are XA1005 and XA1025
Remember that these are British colours so they won't be exactly the same as the US paints applied when your Martlett was built.

J