Markings for a F4U-1D Corsair

[Jim Kiker]

Hi all,

 

I have an upcoming Corsair project and I need some information about decals.  I will be building and painting the model as an early F4U-1D in "3 tone" scheme.  Actually, I reckon I should say "4 tone" given the information Dana Bell has discovered and shared.  I will be needing decals to add a 3-digit code number, 12" high, on the fuselage sides.  Fantasy Printshop has a sheet of white numbers that would fill the bill, but these will be going on over the GSB paint.  So the question is, will Fantasy's decals turn translucent when applied over a dark color, or will they stay (at least mostly) white?  Thanks in advance for any light you can shed.

 

Cheers, Jim

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

I don't believe D’s ever wore a 3/4 tone scheme ? I believe they came straight from the factories in GSB. Of course this is based on years of studying but is still an opinion. Id be happy to find out im wrong, if Mr.Bell has evidence to the contrary. 

 

Dennis

[72modeler]

To my knowledge no F4U-1D's carried the tri-color scheme, but were finished in glossy sea blue. IIRC, all fighters were required to be finished in that color as per an April, 1944 BuAer memo. In Dana Bell's F4U Corsair vol. 1, it states that Vought and Goodyear began delivering Corsairs in the GSB scheme in May, 1944. That being said, a few of their F4U-1D's might have left the factory in the three-color scheme, but I have never seen any photos that show this. Be careful- there are several photos I have seen recently incorrectly  captioned on the internet as F4U-1D's in the tri-scheme, that are actually F4U-1A's. Check the sliding hood- if there is a horizontal framework, it's a -1A; if there is no horizontal framework, it's a -1D. Dana Would be the man to put this one to bed, for sure! However, just like the 007 movie, Never say never!

Mike

 

Oh yes, I almost forgot- I think there was written reference in Dana's monograph that some -1A;s were  fitted with the -1D sliding hood, so watch out for that possibility...as displayed soooo many times here and on other modeling forums- a photo beats a profile every day of the week!

Edited February 7, 2019 by 72modeler
added additional text

[LDSModeller]

The earlier shipments of F4U-1D's received by the RNZAF (Lend Lease) were

 3 or 4 Tone (depending on which side of the street you choose).

 

This Photo link shows NZ5457 a F4U-1D (Bu No. 57463), note the faded 3/4 Tone colour

 

F4U-1D NZ5457

 

Later F4U-1D's versions received were GSB

 

Regards

 

Alan

[Dana Bell]

It's complicated...

 

We're basically dealing with 310 aircraft.

 

The first 10 fitted with the twin pylons were 2815 (BuNo 50350) thru 2824 (BuNo 50359) delivered in British camouflage as JT555 thru JT564.  It does not appear they were designated as F4U-1Ds in USN registers, though they might have been.

 

Then came 300 aircraft equipped with twin bomb-carrying pylons, with fuel capabilities on the right pylon only.  Their company serials/BuNos ran 2825/50360 thru 3124/50659.  They also were delivered with two bomb-carrying pylons, with fuel plumbing on the right pylon only, and most wore four-tone USN camouflage.  The Kiwis received 42 of these aircraft.  The FAA also received 35 of these aircraft (JT600 thru JT634) in British camouflage.

 

Aircraft beginning with numbers 3125/57084 were delivered with plumbing on both pylons and Glossy Sea Blue camouflage.  They were the first to be designated F4U-1Ds, so at that time one could say that all F4U-1Ds were delivered in GSB camouflage.  However, a couple of months later the Navy decided to apply the new designation to the previous 300 aircraft; the Navy also decided to retrofit plumbing to the left pylon.  Because of that revision, we can now accept that 265 of the first 300 F4U-1Ds were delivered in four-tone camouflage (with the 35 previously mentioned in Brit colors).

 

As for the canopy, the "bubble" canopy (as it was described in Bureau of Aeronautics documents) was not a distinguishing feature of the -1D.  The first 300 certainly were delivered with the 3-piece canopy glazing.  The bubble was tested on 3649/57608, which suggests (but doesn't prove) that the first 825 F4U-1Ds used the three-piece canopy.  The earliest identified photo I've found of a production aircraft with the one-piece canopy was 3920/57879, some 271 airframes later - though I'm sure earlier aircraft had the revised canopy.  I've never found the engineering change proposal that confirms when the new canopy first appeared on the production line, but (as mentioned above) the new hood could easily be mounted on earlier aircraft.

 

I've seen only a handful of F4U-1Ds in four-tone camouflage in combat theaters, but a handful is enough if you find good markings.  

 

After all that, I've no idea if the decals will work, proving my innate ability to cite a heap of information without even approaching the original question...

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

I stand corrected Mr.Bell thank you for your input.

 

Dennis

[LDSModeller]

10 hours ago, 72modeler said:

To my knowledge no F4U-1D's carried the tri-color scheme, but were finished in glossy sea blue. IIRC, all fighters were required to be finished in that color as per an April, 1944 BuAer memo. In Dana Bell's F4U Corsair vol. 1, it states that Vought and Goodyear began delivering Corsairs in the GSB scheme in May, 1944. That being said, a few of their F4U-1D's might have left the factory in the three-color scheme, but I have never seen any photos that show this. Be careful- there are several photos I have seen recently incorrectly  captioned on the internet as F4U-1D's in the tri-scheme, that are actually F4U-1A's. Check the sliding hood- if there is a horizontal framework, it's a -1A; if there is no horizontal framework, it's a -1D. Dana Would be the man to put this one to bed, for sure! However, just like the 007 movie, Never say never!

Mike

 

Oh yes, I almost forgot- I think there was written reference in Dana's monograph that some -1A;s were  fitted with the -1D sliding hood, so watch out for that possibility...as displayed soooo many times here and on other modeling forums- a photo beats a profile every day of the week!

This Photo Link (RNZAF Official) is of F4U-1D NZ5485 in GSB (Bu No. 57473)

It has the  "Framed" Canopy

F4U-1D NZ5485

 

Note though plumbed for Rockets, the RNZAF F4U-1D's didn't have the

under wing rocket stubs - FG-1D's did

 

Regards

 

Alan

[e8n2]

12 hours ago, Jim Kiker said:

Fantasy Printshop has a sheet of white numbers that would fill the bill, but these will be going on over the GSB paint.  So the question is, will Fantasy's decals turn translucent when applied over a dark color, or will they stay (at least mostly) white?

While not directly addressing the question at hand, it should help you to make a decision.  I had tried making some home made yellow numeral decals for a project with the decals going over a medium blue background.  After application they looked brown in the areas that you could tell that there was a decal there.  I bought the Fantasy Printshop yellow numerals and they turned out great.  Not translucent at all.  Again, this was with yellow, not white, but also remember that they also print up the decals for Wolfpak decals and if there had been a problem with white over dark colors,  I'm sure Wolfpak would have gone somewhere else for their decal printing.

Later,

Dave

[Grey Beema]

I am currently working on the SH 1/48 Firefly I with large BPF markings.  The markings in the kit are Cartograph decals.  Unfortunately, and of course not until they were on the model, did I realise the translucency of the decals.  It's not the EDSG/DSG transition that stands out (low contrast), it is the high contrast between EDSG/Sky that shows through the decal.  

 

I guess it depends on the contrast that you decals are going to cover.  High contrast, then you can see through the decal, low contrast - I think you'll be ok..

[Seahawk]

I recently built the Airfix BE2c with black and white chequerboard fuselage.  To reduce the risk of the chequers showing through the white of the fuselage roundel, I used Fantasy Printshop white roundel underlays.  I needed 2 applied over each other plus the white of the Airfix roundel and even then the chequers were just about visible to a critical eye.  The good news is that the FP transfers are very thin and it was not apparent that 3 transfers had been applied over each other.  I'd say that, if one transfer doesn't give an acceptably white numeral, applying another over the top will.

[72modeler]

Dana,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time and digging through your references to give a definitive answer to Jim's question. I knew you would be the best person to have the information. When it comes to Corsairs you're the "Help us, Obie Wan Kenobe- you're our only hope!" person! If the Italians had built F4U-1D's they might have been labeled as F4U-1D series i, ii, and iii!

Mike

 

Soooo, when is Aircraft Pictorial 10 coming out?

Edited February 10, 2019 by 72modeler
corrected spelling

[Dana Bell]

Thanks for the kind words, though I still consider Jim Sullivan to be Mr Corsair!  I've had a blast researching the -1 family, and still hope to spend some time on the -4s.  If nothing else, it's always nice to find the answers to questions I didn't know I should be asking - and sometimes those answers end up being useful here.

 

The Blue Gray/Light Gray book is still on hold, but I'm finishing up a catalog of trans-Atlantic flights that predated WW2 (MMP) and getting ready to put the wraps on my USN interwar battleships, cruisers, and their aircraft opus.  We'll have to see what comes after that, but there are a number of other titles Mushroom will want to take next.

 

Good luck with the model!

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

[Jim Kiker]

Hi Dana,

 

So glad that you replied in this thread; you are the source of my information, along with Mr. Sullivan and fundekals decals.  It may be a while before my plan results in painted plastic, but I have a taste for the unusual in camouflage schemes and this will be a fun build.

 

Thanks to all for the input and for the information on the decals; I'll have a think about how to proceed there.

 

Cheers, Jim