Grizly Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 While most kit painting guides would have you paint the cockpit area of the Lancaster grey/green, the more I look at photos, I am slowly becoming convinced that it, like the nose and turrets, was black as far back as the radio officer's station with the balance of the interior being grey/green. By my reasoning, it doesn't follow that the cockpit of a night bomber, like other areas visible from the outside, would be grey/green and not black. Conversely, I can understand that post-war Lancs might be given green cockpits in their maritime or other roles. Anybody care to comment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 In my view it depends on when a Lancaster was built. Based on looking a many photos myself, my rule of thumb has become that early Lancasters were green on the inside entirely (including the bomb aimer section). Later Lancasters had black front interiors and the cockpit section green and black (not sure where the demarcation is exactly, or if it was consistent), and then the very late production types had entire black cockpit sections. Others may have more specific information of when these changes took place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizly Posted September 8, 2021 Author Share Posted September 8, 2021 I just discovered a video of the interior of Lancaster NX611 "Just Jane" and the interior from the nose back to but not including the radio operator's station is predominately black. From the radio operator's station aft is grey/green. True, it is a Mk.VII, a late production aircraft, which may be in keeping with the above comments by Elger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 also see here: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmcgill Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 Depends entirely on when your subject was built. Basically, if the fuselage has the small side windows (even if overpainted) then the inside is all light grey green. Yes, even the "Air Bombers" area at the front. And even after the fuselage windows were deleted from production in Aug/Sept 1943, the all light grey green fuselage interior finish continued for around another year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 The turret interiors on early production aircraft appeared to be silver, only later did they become black, but not sure when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmcgill Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 (edited) Deleted Edited September 8, 2021 by wmcgill Posted in error due to inability to read correctly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 20 minutes ago, wmcgill said: Never seen that myself. Are you able to point me to 1 (one) single photo showing a Lancaster with a silver interior cockpit/crew area? Please read @woody37‘s comments, he only refers to the turrets, not the fuselage proper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmcgill Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 42 minutes ago, stever219 said: Please read @woody37‘s comments, he only refers to the turrets, not the fuselage proper. Thanks. My mistake. I didn't see the word turret. Yes the turret interiors remained silver for quite a while before being painted black. I'll remove/delete my misleading response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix44 Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 The logic doesn't really hold water. The cockpit is only visible from above, at which point the whole aircraft is in a non-black scheme anyway. And you'd have to be both very close and at a particular angle to see into the cockpit. I'd imagine the key consideration was what worked best for the pilot, not protection from night fighters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dh98 Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 Hi all, first post so be kind.. I suspect the Lancaster cockpit colour changed to black due to reflection on the inside of the canopy thus reducing the pilots view outside. I suggest this as I worked for a few years in the offshore rotary world and the pilots immersion suits and life jackets were all dark blue for this very reason. I reckon the change came about from aircrew feedback on ops and only became a problem when the sky became illuminated with searchlights and flares etc. Might suggest why the bomb aimers position was the first to be painted black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now