F4U-1 Birdcage Corsair, Midway 1943 question ( Arkansas Traveler)

[Martinnfb]

Hi Guys,

 I was looking for somehow interesting scheme for my Corsair and was able to found "Arkansas Traveler". The plane was apparently assigned to VMF-222, flown by Lt. Reid in  Midway.

Montex makes nice set of masks for it as well. 

 

My question is , what is the positioning of numbers, I saw pictures of Corsairs from this time-period with numbers placed on the top of the wing, however Montex instructions suggesting only the fuselage number. 

Can anybody help here?

Thank You in advance.

Martin

Edited March 30, 2017 by Martinnfb

[LSP_Mike]

Just to be clear Martin, was VMF-222 stationed on Midway island? When?

[Martinnfb]

I have no other information except the one given by Montex masks. June 1943.

 

[Martinnfb]

Just to be clear Martin, was VMF-222 stationed on Midway island? When?

Commissioned in March, 1942 at Midway. Flight echelon to Guadalcanal on Sept. 3, 1943. Participated in Solomons campaign and reduction of Rabaul until Jan. 1945. To Okinawa in May 1945.

That is what I was able to find on-line. This caged corsair is driving me nuts, I think it will be salvaged as a base for AU-1.

 

[Martinnfb]

Anybody? Anything helps.

[Martinnfb]

One thing I just noticed, it was 3-tone camouflage, you can see the white at the lower flaps and mid. fuselage. So, no numbers on the top of the wing. I can't believe the nobody pitched in.

[Dana Bell]

Hi Martin,

 

The photo doesn't give us much to go on, and I'm not aware of other images of VMF-222 aircraft on Midway before the unit moved to SoPac.  So here's what I see:

 

The radio mast has been shortenened, probably to 24 inches in height.

 

The rear view vision tunnels still have the glazing in place - not replaced by aluminum.

 

The aircraft is still predominantly wearing the Blue Gray over Light Gray scheme, but has had a field repaint of fresher paint on portions of the upper surfaces.  This could have been more Blue Gray, or the newer Dark Blue (similar to Deck Blue) that the Navy used in late 1942 and 1943.

 

Very few units used the over-wing numbers - the two that I can think of were VF-12 and VF-17, and both of those were for a very short time.

 

We would need a better photo to know what type national insignia was applied, and how many (four? six?).

 

Like I said, there's not much to gather from the single image - I hope you can find a few more shots to round out your hunt!

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

[Martinnfb]

Dana ,

Thank You so much for your valuable input, much appreciate that. Just to clarify , the Dark Blue repair paint was similar in tone to the Blue Gray, but darker ? Or was it closer to Non-specular Sea Blue?

Thanks again.

Martin

[Martinnfb]

One more

 

[Dana Bell]

Hi Martin,

 

If the Dark Blue was used (instead of fresh Blue Gray) you would see something much bluer than the original color.  I recently found a Bureau of Standards report listing the Munsell color value as 3 PB 3.4/2, the reflectance as 7.8, and the gloss as 0.7 - that's far more technical than I would normally be, but I'm not sure how close to the real color you want to get.  Several model paint companies makre Deck Blue (for ships), and that should get you in the ballpark...

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Dana

[Martinnfb]

[Martinnfb]

Thanks again Dana. Here is another picture, not the same time or machine , but close.

caption:

The photo is of my father, 2nd Lt. W. O. "Pappy" Reid USMCR with VMF-222 at MCAS, Santa Barbara, Calif. on January 18, 1943. His big smile is because he just landed from ferrying the plane up from NAS, North Island, San Diego, Calif. and had fallen in love with the "Ensign Eliminator" fighter along the way.

 

SOURCE

[LSP_Mike]

Nice sideview, Martin. The crew pic is very cool as well.

[Martinnfb]

Hi Martin,

 

If the Dark Blue was used (instead of fresh Blue Gray) you would see something much bluer than the original color.  I recently found a Bureau of Standards report listing the Munsell color value as 3 PB 3.4/2, the reflectance as 7.8, and the gloss as 0.7 - that's far more technical than I would normally be, but I'm not sure how close to the real color you want to get.  Several model paint companies makre Deck Blue (for ships), and that should get you in the ballpark...

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Dana

 

Hi Dana,

Thank You again for the explanation. The Munsell colour value chart was not needed, I looked it up and slowly becoming familiar with it.,, however what are the values of the top blue grey colour, just to compare it with the Deck Blue?

Also On the second image of Arkansas Traveler is visible that the wheels were overpainted with darker shade, what could it be ?

Also, the headrest is missing the cushion , was that area padded or was it just a hard piece or steel?

Thank You in advance

Martin

 

 

EDIT: I found this picture, looks like a plain steel headrest without cushioning 

Edited March 29, 2017 by Martinnfb

[Dana Bell]

Hi Martin,

 

I owe you an update on the colors and other things - you're second posted image of Arkansas Traveller shows that I misread the signs that were there.  I won't be able to get to this tonight, but I'll try to work something up tomorrow.

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Dana