jimmaas

Although it is directed to the Ki-27, this commentary http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2010/07/paint-matters-mr-color-ki-27-mix.html on IJAAF Gray-Green may help. While the Army and Navy both used a gray overall finish, they weren't the same, and considering the interservice rivalry, wouldn't be.

Yes, except for the natural metal portion that takes up compression.

The landing gear well color was the same as the undersyrface color - Non-specular Light Gray.

That would be the oxygen tank, and the general consensus is for a light green, as in this example: click here

Just a note - the covering over the instrument panel (under the windscreen) should be black, not green.

I don't have the 1/72 kit so I can't comment on the instructions. Yes, many drawings are wrong (including mine in the In Action book). We keep learning new things all the time. Here's another item I just learned, which applies to your F2A-3. On each wing, there are two bumps, a larger one and a smaller one. The larger one is to cover the rear end of the machine gun. The smaller one, I discovered several years ago, is a blister with a clear window on the inside face, toward the cockpit. This bump covered a machine gun round counter, so the pilot could see how many rounds he had left. But for the F2A-3, that smaller bump is not there! So clip it off and sand the surface smooth. Brewster must have found a way to relocate the round counter inside the cockpit. Here is a link to some artwork by Gerry Asher, which are pretty accurate. most are F2A-3's but some F2A-2's and 1's show up also. Be glad to help if I can - my email address is jimmaas@aol.com.

Both of those instructions are correct for the F2A-3 (only). The F2A-3 had an extra fuel tank, so the pilot couldn't see down through the window anyway.

The side code, in 12 inch white characters, is 2-F-6. The individual aircraft number is repeated on the top of the wing and also in 5 inch characters on the cowl ring, at the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock position. In this case, there must have been some re-numbering since the side code shows as 6 but the number over the wings shows as 8. I'll assume the nose number is 6, since that's easier to get to for repainting. The interior is all dull dark green (or bronze green) except for the instrument panels. See here

The new Gitner book on the Buffalo, by Rich Dann, just came out (European seller here). It has a spectacular photo on page 74, showing VF-2 aircraft in January 1942, with blue-gray over light gray camouflage, , rudder stripes, white fuselage codes, The unusual part is that the photo shows that the light gray wraps around the lip of the upper cowling AND the leading edges of the wings and tail surfaces. That's something seen on anti-submarines schemes, not fighters.

The Canadian IPMS magazine Random Thoughts has had a number of good articles on the Ventura. Volume 35-2, 35-3, 35-4 and 36-1 had a build article on the Revell 1/48 kit. You might check and see if anyone in your group get's RT and might have these issues. Sadly, IPMS Canada is no longer maintaining a back issue service.

Warbird colors are never a good idea to use for reference. The middle color of the 'three-tone' scheme was called Intermediate Blue. In early 1943, the three-tone scheme superseded the earlier Blue-Gray/Light Gray scheme, which had been introduced in 1941. Blue-Gray and Intermediate Blue were not the same color. The mix for Blue-Gray involved Prussian Blue, which made the color look slightly green when compared to ultramarine-pigment-based colors like Intermediate blue. There has been some speculation that on early F4U Corsairs, which had originally had their lower outer wing panels painted in Blue-Gray (to avoid a bright undersurface color showing when the wings were folded) kept that obsolete color after the change to three-tone. It wasn't terribly different from Intermediate Blue and repainting undersurface areas is a chore.

The second illustration incorrectly shows yellow undersurface. Dedicated ambulance aircraft had white undersurfaces, at least from July 1941. Which would be, I think, before the adaption of the "C" fuselage roundel. [I know, "C" roundel is no longer the correct term, but I'm an old dog and nearly unteachable....]

The Lucas article on Buffalo colors contains material that is solid but not new, and some new material that is not solid. There are several 'buried leads' in the article, like the concept that the British Buffalos had "A" and "B" schemes (the ex-Belgian ones were different), and that the undersurface roundels were initially applied with incorrect 1-2-3 dimensions. But these had been known for some time. The idea that Foliage Green and Earth Brown were involved seems to arise from Rudy Arnold color photos of Belgian Brewsters (before delivery, and almost certainly before Foliage Green and Earth Brown were mooted half a globe away). There is no reason to believe that the British Brewsters were anything other than American paint equivalents for MAP Dark Earth, Dark Green and Sky. They certainly look the part in the factory and coming out of their shipping crates in Singapore. Anything after that is up in the air - the tropical sun did some strange things to paints - witness the incredible fading of some of the upper wing roundels. Tossing Sky Blue into the equation may not be as far fetched. Not as an underside color for the Buffalos, but for the fuselage band and spinners (and maybe the codes for 488 Squadron). There is an estimable thread here on Britmodeller regarding the repainting of Bleheims with this color, so we know it was around. But outside the partial use of the 'port wing black' ident system, there is no indication (such as changes in the paint demarcation lines) that the undersurface as a whole was redone.

The combination 'mud and milk' originated in a Dutch Purchasing Commission document re paint finish for the MLD Catalinas. No relation to the Army ML-KNIL colors of oudblad and jungblad (old amd young leaf). My suspicion is that the intention was for a muddy color to match the river mouths where the Cats would be parked, but before finishing someone convinced the MLD that blue gray would work better. A Dutch friend insists this color is darker than USN NS Blue-Gray.

All those tones are graded tones of Intermediate Blue, the middle color in the three tone scheme. The same thing was used on a few PBY's. Obviously a lot of work, and not an efficient method, so the simpler way prevailed.