RAF P-39s of 601 Sqn

[mhaselden]

Can anyone confirm (based on contemporary colour photography) the interior colour of the P-39s received by 601 Sqn during WWII? Did they retain the zonc chromate primer of US variants or were interiors painted with the more traditional RAF Interior Green?

Many thanks,

Mark H

[Mike Starmer]

Can anyone confirm (based on contemporary colour photography) the interior colour of the P-39s received by 601 Sqn during WWII? Did they retain the zonc chromate primer of US variants or were interiors painted with the more traditional RAF Interior Green?

Many thanks,

Mark H

The interiors remained as applied in USA. Much too complicated to repaint and to no purpose either.

[Matt Roberts]

Also the paint for the interiors was not Zinc Chromate 'green' (or Interior Green), it was something called Bell Green. Like Grumman and Bronze Green this is a color that still gets debated ad nausium on Hyperscale. I have used WW II Medium Green from both the old Aeromaster and current Polly Scale lines for it. I have also seen it described as the modern European One dark green also (think Warthog Lizzard green scheme). The important thing to remember is that it is basically a dark green that tends towards The bluish side of the color, and not the tan side (aka Olive Drab).

There are a couple of places where Zinc Chromate 'yellow' is visible on an Airacobra. One is the gun compartment, so if you have a Monogram kit that is usable info, the other is in the wheel wells. The well itself where the wheel is housed is Bell Green, and the area of the wing visible where the gear leg goes is ZC Yellow.

One good source of info is the Detail and Scale book on the Airacobra. I have not seen too much negative on the use of the aircraft they used for the detail photos that sometimes surrounds the use of restored airframes in books as these.

One thing which still to my knowledge has never been resolved is what color scheme the Airacobra Is that were transfered to the VVS were in. Were they repainted by the RAF into The gray schemes or did they remain in The original Dark Earth 'BoB' scheme that The USAAF P-400s in New Guinea and Guadalcanal were in. But a 601 Sqn Airacobra was in the mid war gray scheme.

HTH a little

Matt