Seawinder

It looks to me as if MRP really messed up the nomenclature. According to my sources (Archer's book on USAAC/USAAF and Elliott's book on USN, both from Monogram), the pre-war yellows were as you say: USAAC more orange than USN, although they looked quite similar in sunlit conditions. The Navy called their color "Orange Yellow;" the USAAC "Yellow No. 4." MRP appears to do two relevant yellows, one they call Orange Yellow and one they call Deep Chrome Yellow. If you had both and compared them, the more orange-y would probably by the choice for Yellow No. 4. Mr. Color's C329 looks like a good choice for USN Orange Yellow. They also do an Orange Yellow, C58, designated for Japanese aircraft, but probably a decent match for USAAC Yellow No. 4.

Yes, I rather had that figured out. Tongue was definitely in cheek.

I wasn't aware that the Ki-84 was interwar, but anyway ... Do you have access to a printer/cutter like the Silouette Cameo? Do you have access to a computer vector drawing program like Adobe Illustrator or Correl Draw? If so, you can use the draw program to generate circle outlines that can be cut by the cutter. For Hinomarus without the white surround, this is pretty simple and straightforward; the white surrounds complicate matters. The masking material is important. I've had really good results with Artool Ultra Mask, available in sheets and rolls. It's low-tack, but secure, reusable, and above all, translucent. The latter is important for getting the masks for the red circles and the white surrounds lined up concentrically. You want to start by painting a white area somewhat larger than the diameter of the surround. Then you place the smaller circle where you want it and paint the red. Then you use the interior circle of the surround mask and place it over the red circle. This is where the translucency is important so you can see the red circle through the surround mask and get everything properly centered. You can leave the large circle mask in place and paint the camouflage color over it.

IMHO, the photo you linked shows red borders pretty clearly, including the plane in the foreground.

FWIW I've used MRP 108 on a couple of projects and like the way it looks.

How about something in the region of RAF Medium Sea Grey?

I'm wondering what color people would recommend for the grey used on the engine cowlings of many F.2Bs. Wingnut Wings calls out Tamiya XF-53, which seems to be something like US Neutral Gray 36270. As I use a lot of Mr. Color paints, that would mean C-11 or C-308. Am I in the ballpark, or is there a clearly better choice? Thanks! Pip

In case you decide to go with Hasegawa, be aware that many of the F-4E boxings have slatted wings. Useful list of the kits here: http://modelingmadness.com/splfeat/kr/has48d.htm

Re the videos, it's rather puzzling. The Air Warriors episode says the footage of Sanderson and Lady Jane are from the USAAF documentary "Thunderbolt," but after watching that carefully a couple of times, I'm ready to swear it's not there (unless what's available at YouTube is not complete). The documentary is almost totally focused on the 65th FS with no footage at all of the 64th, so Lord only knows where they found it. Pip

Well, that would appear to be the plane in question since one of the fleeting clips in the video shows the number 27 (white edged in red). So, a D-4, eh? Based on the photo I posted, in your expert opinion are they full-span or cut-back cowl flaps at the bottom? In any case, thanks for helping nail down the serial number!

Hi Tbolt. I'm afraid I jumped to the wrong conclusion based on some info at the American Air Museum in England. My present conviction is that the Lady Jane flown by Allen Sanderson of the 64th FS, 57th FG was probably a D-15-RE, not 42-74750, but there's no documentation I've been able to find of its actual serial number. Do you have any idea where one might look for that datum?

I'm wondering if it's the same airplane. Here are three photos I was able to take from the "Air Warriors" episode on my television: I'm wondering if it's the same plane as the one shown as Lady Jane of the 56th FG. There's no indication that Allen Sanderson flew with any outfit besides the 57th FG, so if it is the same plane, it was repainted, but with the same nickname, when it was transferred, which seems a bit unlikely to me. If there's a photo of the plane showing the serial number, I haven't been able to find it. The American War Museum archives records of razorback P-47s with the 57th FG are all D-15-RE's. In the last of the photos I posted, I think the lower cowl flaps are curve-cut. The AWM archives record for 42-74750 only mentions it serving with the 56th FG.

I'm looking to do "Lady Jane" SN 42-74750 flown by Allen Sanderson. There are a few fleeting images of the plane in the Smithsonian "Air Warriers" episode on the Thunderbolt, but none showing the cowl flaps clearly AFAIK. In scanning the USAAF documentary "Thunderbolt" showing planes and pilots of the 57th FG flying from Corsica, I couldn't find any razorbacks that didn't have the curved cut lower cowl flaps.

This thread is well timed for me since I'm looking at doing a P-47D-6-RE that flew from Corsica in 1944. Can anybody tell me if it would have had the cowl flaps like the D-1 or the D-15? AFAIK there are no images showing that area of the airframe. Thanks! Pip

If you're referring to this article at AoJ -- http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2009/11/useful-colours-army-interiors-part-two.html -- did you check the seventh paragraph down, which talks about a yellow-green (JAAF #29) being found in the cockpits of Ki-43s and -44s? I should say it's just as likely as the dark blue-gray.

I'm with MDriskill. I believe wartime P-47s were not painted aluminum, but in general they exhibit fewer contrasting panels than say P-51s.

I always thought the scheme was 71/02?

They were successively re-boxed by Pyro, Lifelike, and finally (AFAIK) Lindberg.

I'm with Troy. It looks an awful lot like a USAF camouflage scheme. If Charcoal Lizard (I think also called Euro when applied to A-10s), the colors would be FS36081 Euro Gray, FS34092 Euro Green (I've never seen it referred to as Gunship Green, although there's a Gunship Gray FS36118), and FS34102 Medium Green. There was also a similar scheme, also called Euro, applied to F-4s: FS36081, FS34102, and FS34079; but I don't think the darker green in the photos looks like 34079. I'm reasonably convinced the two darker colors are 36081 and 34092; I wonder if the other green might not be an olive drab, possibly a somewhat faded FS34087.

You're just comparing your chip to the first photo in your first post. What happens if you check it against the second photo and/or the photo taken inside? I'm guessing 34092 will be as close or closer.

I think FS 34092 (AKA Euro 1 Dark Green) looks pretty close. If I were doing it I'd use Mr. Color 302, but it's available in a lot of paint lines.

I have no way of knowing if it's a valid generalization, but late model Spitfires retained Grey-Green cockpits right through the Mk. 24s, while late Seafire cockpits were black, so it's possible the RAF stayed with Grey-Green longer than the FAA.

Could be wrong, but I believe they also improved the fit of the forward canopy in the later boxing.

Yeah, I'm sorry: I saw the "." after "ca" as being a decimal point. I still think a lot of early war splinter camo was tighter than 25mm.

I wouldn't call .25mm a soft edge, especially scaled down to modeling size. I personally use a raised mask to approximate the early war look.