F-3 Demon questions

[phantom]

I have been looking up all I can find on the F-3 Demon, for my next project. But have not had luck in answering two questions.

What colour is the avionics in the nose? I think black/grey boxxes with cromite green structure surrounds.

But I cant find ANY photos to confirm this.

Next the gun bay? Im guessing white? (with 'gun" coloured guns )

Found some really nice resin for these areas , but nothing regarding the paint. Huge amount of internet articles on the F-3, and I looked in the F-3 walk around book. Nothing I can find showed these two areas.

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

UGH...that's a tough one. 3 examples preserved, one of them a few miles from me, and none of those areas are exposed. A look through the Ginter book didn't do anything for colors, either.

As I see it, unless someone has better info, you have two options. Either go with what was common on other early Naval jets in the gull gray over white scheme, or shoot an email to the good folks at the Library at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola. Those folks are fantastic, and since I believe it was people at that site that restored the last of the 3, recently, they may be able to give you some firsthand accounts of what they found in the airframe.

[LanceB]

That is a tough one indeed. I would lean towards white or possibly red for the bays, not green chromate. The avionics bays uder the cockpit of the F7U were (I believe) red, as were the insides of the hatches/work platforms that covered them. Red was used as it made it very easy to spot open hatches on the flight deck. At one point, even landing gear bays were apparently red, but that was dropped quickly when it was realized that hydraulic fluid is also red, and trying to find a red fluid leak in a red bay on the hanger deck at night, with red lighting, was impossible! Thereafter just the edges of the doors was painted red, the bays themselves white, and this apparently was carried over into areas with no hydraulic lines, such as avionics bays.

[Bennygmanuk]

Hey Phantom,

Can't answer your specific question, but have you seen this site?

http://www.philsaeronauticalstuff.com/f3h/f3h.html

Spent quite a while looking for ref's for my Rareplanes 1/72 build, but when I found it this site almost blew my mind.

Steve.

(who now feels obliged to add all kinds of extra details!)

[phantom]

Thanks Steve, thats a great site. Nothing of course on the questions of the day, but lots of other answers.

Lance, yep, figured white for the weapons bay. Red for the avionics???? Possible I guess, time frame would work. All I could find was a very blurry black and white photo. About the only thing I'm sure of is I dont think its white.

Andrew, I took your suggestion and emailed Pensacola.

Dang not many references to a plane thats barely 50 years old eh?

[LanceB]

Lance, yep, figured white for the weapons bay. Red for the avionics???? Possible I guess, time frame would work. All I could find was a very blurry black and white photo. About the only thing I'm sure of is I dont think its white.

I just happened across a copy of the FAOTW book on the Demon. There was one pic of one of the prototypes (Gloss Sea Blue airframe) with the clamshell-type hatch on the starboard upper fuselage (between the windscreen and the radome proper) open. Wasn't much in there, I guess that would be where the radar electronics would go on a production bird, but it was all white in there.

[phantom]

All white? Guess on the early airframes. I think I'll just go with the gut instinct. Pink with purple doors. :D

[LanceB]

All white? Guess on the early airframes. I think I'll just go with the gut instinct. Pink with purple doors.

I believe the purple door paint was discontinued in 1943. Not sure of the directive number, though. Something to do with conserving strategic materials, purple required an excessive amount of stabilizing agent to maintain the hue. It was replaced with Fuchsia, which rapidly faded to Lilac.