Hi there

Can anyone help regarding the cockpit colour of the Seafire XVII when it was in service? Airfix's instructions are a bit contradictory, showing the upper cockpit sides above the main longeron (including the pilot's door) painted black and the lower cockpit in what I presume should be Grey Green. However, the separate part for the pilot's door is later shown as Grey Green on the interior:



Meanwhile, the beautifully restored SX336 is finished in Grey Green throughout.

Can anyone confirm the original colour(s)?

Thanks in advance and all the best

Rowan

Hornby did their research on the 17 in the FAA Museum at Yeovilton, which does have a "half-and-half" cockpit; obviously they've got it wrong, with the door, since the real thing is black.
It's impossible to say, for sure, that every 17 had the two-tone cockpit, and the 15 appears to have been all-green, with the 40-series going to all-black.
It's known that some XVI fuselages eventually became low-back XIVs, and the same could have happened with some of the 17s, which could explain the all-green restored example.
Edgar

Hi Edgar

Many thanks. I'll go with the 2-tone scheme and paint the door interior black as you say.

All the best

Rowan

Hi again Edgar

Maybe a silly question, but what sort of seat did the aircraft have? I think I remember you saying previously that the flare rack is correct for a Seafire, but would it be an impregnated resin seat? The reason I ask is that Airfix say to paint it green, which I'd associate with early metal seats or modern-day reproductions. So, I was erring towards a red-brown instead, but I thought I'd better check.

All the best

Rowan

The Yeovilton seat is red plastic, but a drawing, for a Seafire seat, shows it as being metal, so it's (another) one of life's little imponderables. Personally, I'd go for metal, since Westland had another drawing, which shows two almost vertical spruce blocks between the seat and the armour, presumably as a stiffener (with a small gap at the top for the shoulder straps,) and I doubt that a plastic seat would take the hammer.
Note, too, if you intend to add a harness, it would have been the QS, with quick-release box, not the Sutton. There were just four straps, with the thigh straps moving back to the corners of the seat, so that they came over the pilot's hips, and the shoulder straps, still shaped like a "Y," going through a bracket on the head armour, then dropping down between the seat and armour, to be anchored at the base of the seat bulkhead. Straps are likely to have been blue, as well.
Edgar

Hi again Edgar

Thanks again! So, not such a silly question after all. I will add a harness, but hadn't even considered what type was used, so thanks also for the extra information concerning that.

All the best

Rowan