Starspell Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Dear Community, One quick question to the community before I start out on my just delivered F4U-1........I'm impatient to start !! From a quick look thru the first few steps of the destruction sheet, the colour of the pit calls for a 2:1 mix of XF5 (flat green) and XF8 (flat blue). But from the nice colour pictures included in the kit, the pit doesn't seem to be a blue hue, seems more like a straight cockpit green (XF71) Humbrol 78. For those who have preceeded me in this build, did you go with the 2:1 mix as in the destructions, or cockpit green......or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Bell Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 (edited) Hi Steve, The early Birdcage cockpit color was Dull Dark Green - a sort of forest green color with only a touch of blue. Around April/May 1943, near the end of Birdcage production, the Dull Dark Green was ordered dropped once stocks were exhausted. Interior Green was to be the replacement color, but Vought got permission to use up its stocks of aluminized zinc chromate first. The Vought stocks would have been much brighter, something we Americans often call a "candy apple green." The last Birdcage Corsairs would have been delivered in August, and we don't know how much aluminized zinc chromate remained in stock, so it isn't clear if any aircraft were delivered with Interior Green cockpits. Even after the change from Dull Dark Green, many interior parts were still delivered in that color. Dull Dark Green seats, rudder pedals, joy sticks, even side consoles could be installed all the way into F4U-1D production. Your Tamiya cockpit could be more colorful than the instructions suggested! Recycled Birdcages had their cockpits repainted near the war's end - so if you're doing one of those Glossy Sea Blue stateside trainers the cockpit would have been either Interior Green or Interior Green with black above the side consoles, depending on where the aircraft was refurbished. Good luck with the build - it's a wonderful kit! Cheers, Dana Edited June 11, 2018 by Dana Bell word left out 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted June 11, 2018 Author Share Posted June 11, 2018 2 hours ago, Dana Bell said: Hi Steve, The early Birdcage cockpit color was Dull Dark Green - a sort of forest green color with only a touch of blue. Around April/May 1943, near the end of Birdcage production, the Dull Dark Green was ordered dropped once stocks were exhausted. Interior Green was to be the replacement color, but Vought got permission to use up its stocks of aluminized zinc chromate first. The Vought stocks would have been much brighter, something we Americans often call a "candy apple green." The last Corsairs would have been delivered in August, and we don't know how much aluminized zinc chromate remained in stock, so it isn't clear if any aircraft were delivered with Interior Green cockpits. Even after the change from Dull Dark Green, many interior parts were still delivered in that color. Dull Dark Green seats, rudder pedals, joy sticks, even side consoles could be installed all the way into F4U-1D production. Your Tamiya cockpit could be more colorful than the instructions suggested! Recycled Birdcages had their cockpits repainted near the war's end - so if you're doing one of those Glossy Sea Blue stateside trainers the cockpit would have been either Interior Green or Interior Green with black above the side consoles, depending on where the aircraft was refurbished. Good luck with the build - it's a wonderful kit! Cheers, Dana Thanks for the info Dana. Since Tamiya don't do a interior green, what would be the best match within the Tamiya range? (Or maybe Humbrol) as these are easily available to me? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Bell Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Hi Steve, I'm afraid paints have changed a good bit since I did any real modeling - I don't have much experience with what's available today. (I still miss Pactra's Flat Roof Brown and Antiglare Green for mixing my own OD!) Anyhow, I'm sure there are folks here better equipped to recommend a good mix or out-of-the-bottle... Cheers, Dana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seawinder Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 FWIW, here's a quote from a thread at finescale.com: "Tamiya doesn't have a color that's a match for the Interior Green color, but you can get a good match with 2 parts XF-3 Flat Yellow and one part XF-5 Flat Green. There is also a yellow zinc chromate for which Tamiya XF-4 Yellow Green is a good match. By adding black to yellow zinc chromate you can get green zinc chromate." Since Interior Green was basically black added to yellow zinc chromate, the latter suggestion is probably a good way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 Dear All, Thanks you for your kind comments and suggestions. Looks like 2:1 XF3/XF5 is the way to go 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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