FM-2 Wildcat interior color question

[Waltz41]

Hello,

Going to be starting up the HobbyBoss 1/48 FM-2 Wildcat in basic overall gloss dark sea blue scheme from a VC squadron. I'm trying to find out the correct answer to some color questions on the interior. From what I have found online,

1) Cockpit should be zinc chromate green? (based on being a General Motors/Eastern aircraft?)

2) Wheel wells should be a light grey?

3) Landing gear should be same as outside (sea blue?)

4) Inside of the engine cowling should be light grey?

Question marks next to all since I'm not sure 100% (if there is such a thing even).

Thanks for any help.

[Troy Smith]

Hello,

Going to be starting up the HobbyBoss 1/48 FM-2 Wildcat in basic overall gloss dark sea blue scheme from a VC squadron. I'm trying to find out the correct answer to some color questions on the interior. From what I have found online,

1) Cockpit should be zinc chromate green? (based on being a General Motors/Eastern aircraft?)

2) Wheel wells should be a light grey?

3) Landing gear should be same as outside (sea blue?)

4) Inside of the engine cowling should be light grey?

Question marks next to all since I'm not sure 100% (if there is such a thing even).

Thanks for any help.

Hyperscale PLane Talking is the place for this...

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1162932155

... acording to Paul Fontenoy's research published in 1998, "Eastern, a Grumman licensee, finished interior surfaces in Interior Green, with wheel wells, etc. finished to match exterior colours (and FM’s again using black enamel on u/c legs).

Hope this helps.

The cockpit area was Interior Green. The remainder was in zinc chromate yellow, or zinc chromate green ( NOT INTERIOR GREEN!).

Go to the reference area of Hyperscale, and search for my article on FAA Wildcats, as much of thre interior information is also for USN/USMC Wildcats.

Bruce

which is here http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/wildcatfaaba_1.htm

Eastern Aircraft took over the manufacture of the Wildcat from Grumman as Grumman was busy making Hellcats. The Wildcat was manufactured in Linden, NJ (near my home) and towed across the street to the Linden Airport for test flying and delivery. The first Eastern built Wildcats for the FAA, the Mk.V, may have worn two schemes. The first off the line are reportedly were painted according to Grumman specs, which include the primers, interior color and the correct shades for the Temperate Sea Scheme. However, the majority of Mk.Vs (FM-1s) were painted in the US ANA substitute colors of Olive Drab, Sea Grey and Light Grey. The cockpit was in “Interior Green”, and the remainder of the primed surfaces was in Zinc Chromate, either green or yellow.

The Wildcat VI was painted in two differing schemes. The first was in the US ANA Substitute Scheme of Olive Drab, Sea Grey and Light Grey. The Interior and primed areas of the aircraft were as above. The second scheme was overall Glossy Sea Blue, with a Non-Specular Sea Blue anti-glare panel. An Eastern Aircraft painter (reference 12) interviewed by me stated that the Non-Specular Sea Blue was used initially because Eastern had quite a bit of this color in stock. When stocks of the Non-Specular Sea Blue were exhausted, a flat varnish was used to paint the anti-glare panel. The cockpit and interior were like the late Wildcat Vs.

from the above ....

1) Cockpit should be zinc chromate green? (based on being a General Motors/Eastern aircraft?) Cockpit green

2) Wheel wells should be a light grey? as exterior

3) Landing gear should be same as outside (sea blue?) black enamel

4) Inside of the engine cowling should be light grey? zinc chromate

The Hobby Boss FM-2 has some issues, though their other Wildcats are fine.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1359094292

http://www.neomega-resin.com/correction-parts---please-select-fm-2-wildcat-correction-set-no-propellor-739-p.asp

HTH

[WymanV]

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=149739

[DonSS3]

I can't think of any aircraft where the cockpit was Zinc Chromate Green.

[Chris L]

I can't think of any aircraft where the cockpit was Zinc Chromate Green.

Please overlook the fact that I have yet to learn how to post pictures on this web site.

Look at this ant tell me what you would call it

https://www.google.com/search?q=grumman+FM2+wilcat+cockpit&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS510US537&oq=grumman+FM2+wilcat+cockpit&aqs=chrome..69i57.13421j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Regards, Christian

[Waltz41]

My bad, I meant the standard cockpit green, not zinc chromate green for my original post.

Thanks you for the replies and help everyone.

[Chris L]

My bad, I meant the standard cockpit green, not zinc chromate green for my original post.

Thanks you for the replies and help everyone.

I believe my explanation to be correct . I know the first two parts are correct for sue.

Zinc chromate is a bold yellow color

Zinc chromate was tinted was tinted with black which makes what people refer to as interior green,

that also goes by numerous other name including zinc chromate green ( that does not actually exist by name ) at least not during WW II

Even though that tinted version was used extensively in positions observable by the enemy.

Cheers, Christian

[Dana Bell]

Hello,

Going to be starting up the HobbyBoss 1/48 FM-2 Wildcat in basic overall gloss dark sea blue scheme from a VC squadron. I'm trying to find out the correct answer to some color questions on the interior. From what I have found online,

1) Cockpit should be zinc chromate green? (based on being a General Motors/Eastern aircraft?)

2) Wheel wells should be a light grey?

3) Landing gear should be same as outside (sea blue?)

4) Inside of the engine cowling should be light grey?

Question marks next to all since I'm not sure 100% (if there is such a thing even).

Thanks for any help.

Since some of the notes answering your questions are based on my earlier writings, please consider any of the following "corrections" to be aimed at myself, not directed at anyone here who has been trying to help. Let me confess that I've learned a great deal since retiring ten years ago!

The first FM-1s were delivered with Bronze Green cockpits; this color was quickly replaced with Dull Dark Green on the production line, though I've not found a BuAer record documenting exactly when the change was made. One note has the seat color changing to "zinc chromate primer" on FM-1 BuNo 15,000, though the note lacks details clarifying if the seat used tinted primer, or if the entire cockpit moved to that color at the same time. (If the entire cockpit switched to zinc chromate, it would have certainly been tinted to Interior Green.)

Notes on the FM-2 are slightly more specific - they have the seat primed with zinc chromate from the beginning of production. Again, we can only assume that this was tinted primer. On the 200th FM-2, the cockpit color was switched to Interior Green (presumably from Dull Dark Green), which continued in use through the end of production.

There were four basic variations of zinc chromate green, and all were used as cockpit colors at one time or another:

- Aluminized Zinc Chromate simply added aluminum paste to the basic yellow primer to create a bright candy apple green. This saw limited use in the 1930s, particularly on Northrop aircraft, but it was also seen in some late-production F4U-1s and early-production F4U-1As when Vought found a stock of the pre-mixed primer.

- Yellow Green became a standard cockpit color in the late 1930s through 1942 - it simply added some black pigment to Aluminized Zinc Chromate to tone the color down somewhat.

- Several variations on yellow green - when the aluminum shortage was declared in 1942, the aluminum paste was withdrawn from the Yellow Green formula. Manufacturers would find a number of pigment combinations to approximate Yellow Green, often adding white or gray enamel. Curtiss Cockpit Green is the best-known example of one of these substitute colors.

- Interior Green was a darker zinc chromate green that added black to the yellow primer. It came into general use in mid-1943, so any reference to its use in 1941, for example, are a bit anachronistic.

Add to this the Bronze Green enamels and lacquers, Dull Dark Green lacquers, black lacquers, and Medium Green lacquers and the whole question of American cockpit colors becomes as complicated as any of the Luftwaffe discussions we've enjoyed over the years.

Finally, that gray interior finish coat would have used the same exterior Light Gray camouflage lacquer introduced in 1940 - the Navy hated to waste good paint!

Anyhow, I hope this helps clarify a few things for everyone...

Cheers,

Dana

[11bee]

Hey Dana,

I just wanted to thank you for all the time spent here and over on HS answering questions and offering info. It's greatly appreciated.

BTW, what's next in line for books? I'd love to see one on the Wildcat family or later version Corsairs.

[Slartibartfast]

Dana has already published a Wildcat book. A follow-on to his P-40 book would be nice. Or maybe an Allison P-51 book digging into how NAA complied with RAF color specs. Or P-322 or P-400. Or...?

[Jennings]

Zinc chromate was tinted was tinted with black which makes what people refer to as interior green,

that also goes by numerous other name including zinc chromate green ( that does not actually exist by name ) at least not during WW II

If you're talking about US colors, there has never been an official color name "zinc chromate" anything. Zinc chromate is not a color, it's a chemical formula. Depending on how its produced, zinc chromate paint can be any of a whole range of colors.

After WWII when the FS color standard came long, all names for all colors were abolished. That's why the five-digit color code was implemented - to eliminate the massive confusion that color names, and variations of names was causing. You can easily confuse "olive drab" with "dark olive drab" with "olive green", but you can't confuse 34087 and 35562.

[Rex]

But, the USN continued to use color names in the spec documents. In some cases, they used names without FS numbers. (the page in their spec that assigned colors to places in the Air Wing) That is why the Blue varies so much on the -3xx aircraft. People read "Light Blue" and some used the previous Light Blue (the one that became Azure), some used 35109, and some used the intended Light Blue/True Blue. (see Table 1 continued in 27 Oct 1971's MIL-I-18464G (AS), in that, they continued to tell us the 8 colors to use for the trim,,,,,without an FS number, just the names)

as for official or not,,,,in 1972 G Light Gull Gray was officially changed to G Light Gray,,,,,,,,by the USN.

"the intent was to curb the use of color names" in the 1968 FS standard,,,,,while the ANA standard stood next to it until 1970 or so,,,,,,using color names next to the ANA numbers.

In all the official docs that I have, the color name was given first, followed by the ANA or FS number,,,,,,if those numbers were given at all.