Several photos and artists renderings of the Bristol Beaufighter radial engines appear to show the engine cowling ring as unpainted metal, but I have yet to find an explanation of what and why. So, my questions are:

What is the color/material? If this is a paint, what brand and color are the most suitable to replicate this effect?

Why was this done?

I recall seeing the similar cowling treatment on Gladiators.

Please help. Thanks.

Hi Michael!

If I'm not wrong the cowling you mention is in fact the exhaust collector of some radial engines and they have a bronze/aluminium color. As the exhausts are hot, these areas were left unpainted.
Some planes had also an oil radiator in the same design.

Jean-Luc

Thank you, Jean Luc.

After seeing your response I performed additional Beaufighter searches on the Internet, and several sites did make references to the exhaust and unpainted metal.

Thanks again for your help.

G'day,

With the Beaufighter collector ring, any Bronze colour of model paint is suitable, Burnt Iron could also be used on this section.
Some Aussie manufactured Beaufighters had a heat resistant white leading edge on the exhaust collector, but this changed to a strange whitish aluminium colour after a short time.

Hope this helps a little, in answering your question.