Grey Beema Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Very quick question. I am currently converting the Tamiya 1/48 F4F-4 to a Martlet IV. Most of the build is done and I am just about to dosh some paint BUT what colour Primer were they painted with in the factory? Was it Grumman Grey or Zinc Oxide all over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Mostly Grumman Gray https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/pages/us-navy-usmc-aircraft-colours-around-ww2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85sqn Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Hey Phil, have you seen this page by Bruce Archer: http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/wildcatfaaba_1.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Beema Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 11 minutes ago, Work In Progress said: Mostly Grumman Gray https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/pages/us-navy-usmc-aircraft-colours-around-ww2 Thanks WIP, it's interesting to note that there are lots of references to the internal colours but few to what colour Primer that outside was. I think I will assume they were primed Grumman Gray under the TSS as I want to get some paint on it the next couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Beema Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 14 minutes ago, 85sqn said: Hey Phil, have you seen this page by Bruce Archer: http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/wildcatfaaba_1.htm Thanks Nick, yes have this one bookmarked again it gives the internal colours but not necessarily the external Primer coat. As a Mk IV it was built by Grumman and they had good colour matches to TSS, I think I am going to assume Grumman Grey Primer then the lash the pre-shading and TSS over this.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Bell Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Hi Gents, The oft-cited "Grumman Gray" was nothing more than leftover Light Gray camouflage lacquer used as a finish coat. When used on the interior, it was generally applied over two coats of primer - the first yellow and the second green. It was only used on the exterior as part of the camouflage - the Blue Gray over Light Gray scheme or the later Dark Blue over Light Gray scheme. Cheers, Dana 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Beema Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Dana Bell said: Hi Gents, The oft-cited "Grumman Gray" was nothing more than leftover Light Gray camouflage lacquer used as a finish coat. When used on the interior, it was generally applied over two coats of primer - the first yellow and the second green. It was only used on the exterior as part of the camouflage - the Blue Gray over Light Gray scheme or the later Dark Blue over Light Gray scheme. Cheers, Dana Thanks Dana, I'm probably being thick here but what was used for a primer on British camouflaged aircraft under the TSS, the Yellow & Green Primer coats? Edited March 31, 2019 by Grey Beema Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Bell Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Sorry Grey, I've never found a record of the primers used for UK-bound Wildcats. I would expect that to coats of zinc chromate would be standard, but I don't know. On other aircraft the British Purchasing Commission seemed more concerned about corrosion than the Americans were, so I'd guess Light Gray. The FAA museum is restoring an early Martlet - there might be some evidence there. But pre-1942 aircraft often used different standards than post-1941 aircraft, so I couldn't guarantee that a later aircraft would use the same interior colors. Cheers, Dana 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 Does this help? Although it's hard to tell, maybe the lightest colour is the earliest layer (perhaps primer)? The dark blue was the last scheme, and the light blue (seen at the trailing edge) would appear to be from the factory as shown here: Cheers, Bill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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