Hello,
I have recentley started the Tamiya p-51 D. I have always used interior green. But now I have a desicion to make, which color should I use? Regular zinc chromate primer or green zinc chromate primer?Also, on an in restoration black widow, all the cockpit areas were green zinc and all the other areas,as in engine cowls and gear wells,were just plain zinc chromate,should I paint it this way,or use just one color?And which color should I use?

Hi Dave

I've had a quick look at the D&S P-51D book.

In the colour photos there (of an aircraft restored to factory standards), the cockpit walls seem to be finished in Interior Green with black details. The instrument panel is black, and the floor is unpainted wood. There's a small patch of Chromate Yellow showing ahead of the control column, where the top of the wing is visible.

The headrest and armour plate, plus the inside of the canopy appear to be black.

Gun bays, engine area and parts of the wheel wells are Chromate Yellow (but the text says Chromate Green was also used).

Hope this helps

Rowan

The green primer used on aircraft was always known as cockpit green because even though it got used elsewhere it was always used in the cokpit. This is because bright yellow zinc chromate would be a bit much on the fly boys eyeballs.

The most common paint finishes in aircraft cockpits up till the '50's were cockpit green, crackle black, matt black, and gloss black with knobs and switches featuring yellow or red depending on function, and white, red or orange on engine and pitch control levers.

Inside engine cowls was often left bare metal.

The above is of course a generalisation, but as a rule cocpits were not very bright places, and that includes civilian aircraft.

Regards Dave