I KNOW this one will be simple......

Ok, about the Hasegawa Hellcat Im building. Im going with wheels down. The instructions say to paint inside the wheel well the same color as the surrounding under surfaces. But it seems to me the proper color would be the interrior green (or in my case I had to get Kahki green) the same as the cockpit. Is this correct or not?

Brian

Check your References!

I've heard of
1) YELLOW ZInc Chromate on all interior surfaces outside of the cockpit.
2) Surrounding exterior color. (D&S #55, F4U)
3) A salmon color similar to modern FS30215 (D&S #55, F4U) probably Vought specific.

My F6F references are still packed away, but I suspect that the factories used what ever the Navy spec'ed or accepted and sailors used what ever was handy.

The instructions are correct, The wheel wells, gear legs, doors and wheels were all painted the underside colour. So on the tri-colour scheme these areas are white and on the overall sea blue scheme they are sea blue.
I believe that this goes for all US navy aircraft, after the change from the 2 grey scheme I think. Corsairs did indeed have a salmon pink wheel bay early on, apparently.
Mal

Excellent, thank you!
Brian

Hi Brian,

Consider why. Land-based planes' wheel wells aren't visible to observation. Ship-based planes are up in the sky where colors can be seen by subs, etc.

My guess as to why,.

This is all correct..and, in fact, the "Salmon" color was an anti-corrosion laquer put on the wheel well surfaces, under whatever paint was used. Perhaps Vought (Corsair) specific, but I'm not sure, it's very late here. IPMS Stockholm has excellent articles regarding this.

JK

I have the complete info for all/most US Navy planes, of WWII, on this subject. PM me with your email addy and I'll send it to you, assuming I can find it again
Mal

The salmon reference was from Kinzey’s Detail and Scale #55 on the F4U. He even gives a recipe for the paint, something like x parts of red lead paste per gallon of carrier mixed with so much zinc chromate primer. It seemed very specific to Vought and maybe even to just the –1D. I suspect that it would have bled through a hastily applied coat of white paint.

Looking at my F6F Walkaround, it appears that Grumman didn’t waste any time with the extra steps and did exactly as every one has stated, painted the undercarriage the same color as the surrounding wing.

Mal,
Got your e-mail. Awesome, lots of info.
Thanks again!
Brian