Dana Bell

Hi Nick and Ray, All Vought and Brewster Corsairs were delivered with folding wings; nearly a quarter of all FGs (FG-1As 13627 thru 14591) were delivered as land planes with fixed wings. The internal folding mechanism was removed, but the hinges were still used to keep the wings together and the seams between the center sections and outer panels were sealed. Any Corsair could be field modified to remove the folding mechanism, but records don't indicate how often this might have happened. (It certainly never happened on a Kiwi or British FAA Corsair.) You can generally recognize the fixed wing aircraft by the tail modifications that were to be carried out at the same time: the after halves of the tail wheel doors would be bolted closed and the cove which would have shown the arresting hook head (the entire hook was removed) would be plated over. The frameless canopy was introduced on FG-1D/Corsair IV KD662 and F4U-1D 57284 (after the completion of the last Corsair II). On the Brit designations, Mk Is were all Vought Birdcages; Mk IIs were also Vought, but could be -1As or -1Ds; all Mk IIIs were all Brewster -1As (Brewster never got the chance to build -1Ds); and all Mk IVs were Goodyear -1As or -1Ds Cheers, Dana (I hate to flog my own work, but the new Aircraft Pictorial #8 (ISBN 978-0-9857149-9-4) has several other helpful details on the rasied cabin versions of the -1 Corsair, including several new revelations on British aircraft.)

Hi Nick, JT410 and KD244 can both be built from the Tamiya kit; KD578 cannot without additional mods, since it was based on the FG-1D. JT410 was (as you noted) derived from the F4U-1A; it was delivered with standard US Navy wingtips, which were quickly replaced with Andover Kent short wingtips at Roosevelt Field. There were later orders to replace the short wingtips with "short short" wingtips, but I've no records to show if or when that mod might have occured. Carbon monoxide vents were added by the Britsm abd should have been the style shown on the Fundecals fact sheet accompanying their decals (also available online). KD244 was based on the FG-1A (KD562 was the first Corsair IV to be based on the FG-1D) and was delivered with the "short short" wingtips and US versions of the CO vents - there are pix in my Aircraft Pictorial #8, F4U-1 Corsair Vol 2. I suspect Tamiya will produce the -1D and British Corsairs at some point in the future, though that is just a guess on my part. They are aware of the short and short short wingtip differences, so I'm hopeful they'll provide both types if they produce the Brit Corsairs. Cheers, Dana

Hi Jennings, You're right about the early Corsair IIIs wearing USN colors. Brewster was SO far behind in production that the Navy insisted all production immediately switch to British aircraft. Aircraft on the line were already in USN colors, and the wingtips were still being modified by Andover Kent at Roosevelt Field, so Brewster had relatively little to change moving these aircraft to the Brits. The big question is just when the Brit scheme was instroduced to the Corsair III line. If there ever was a record made, it must have been among the files that were pulled by the legal teams sorting out the post-war suits. Cheers, Dana

Hi Juggernut, I've a bit more material on the "as-supplied" radios in British Corsairs, but I'll need some time to make sense of it and write it up. I'll try and present what I've got early next week. The big problem (and the reason I rarely deal with export aircraft after delivery) is that I have nothing on whatever changes were made to radio sets in the UK or Pacific. More soon... Cheers, Dana

Hi Harv, Here's volume 1: http://www.amazon.com/Aircraft-Pictorial-No-F4U-1-Corsair/dp/0985714972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428103742&sr=8-1&keywords=f4u+dana There's only a page on -2s - most of which shows things seen elsewhere, though there are two good detail views of the exhausts. I searched for the photos that would have shown the cockpit and the radar installation, but never found them. Cheers, Dana

I just had a call from Steve Wiper and he's picking the second Corsair book up from the printers right now. It's available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Aircraft-Pictorial-No-F4U-1-Corsair/dp/0985714999/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1428075977&sr=8-2&keywords=dana+f4u I had the 1/32nd Tamiya F4U-1A in hand before sending the book in to layout, and we had time to add a number of details that might come in handy with that wonderful kit. Now, if only I can make the time to build one too! Cheers, Dana

The general consensus is that the 361st's Mustangs were all painted with OD. Evidence to the contrary is that four English spotters were given tours of the base; they were close enough to record the 1-inch-high block numbers under the cockpit and recorded seeing a blue color in their notebooks. (Detractors of the spotters' evidence have invented the fact that they were all so far away that they were confused about the color they saw.) The surviving original color photography (which I used to manage for the US Air Force) shows that some of the aircraft wore a greenish looking OD, but others wore a darker color that cannot be clearly identified. At least two of the darker aircraft were recorded as being blue by the spotters. Roger Freeman - no slouch as a researcher - believed in the blue Mustangs, and MJF Bowyer - another non-slouch - was one of the four spotters. Nothing is proven by any of this, but I'm still surprised to read that there is no evidence that any of the aircraft were blue... Cheers, Dana

Hi Bill, As you suspected in your original posting, more Corsairs were delivered by carrier than operated off carriers. Unfortunately, all the -1As were delivered; when the first Corsairs were sent to war operating from carriers, it was already the last week of 1944, and all the aircraft were -1Ds. (The exceptions were the -2 nightfighters' brief operations, and VF-17 - yanked from carrier duty just before going into combat.) The sole identifying difference between the -1D and the -1A was the addition of twin pylons under the center section of the wing. Other changes were introduced during -1D production, but many of them could be retrofitted to earlier models. The good news is that many of the features (rockets, pylons) could be removed from -1Ds for operations. The bad news is that all the carrier operated -1Ds I've seen already had the "one-piece" frameless canopies. The wings could usually be folded on shore-based -1As, which allows for some great weathering. If that little open space that the tail hook peeked out of has been plated over, you're looking at a fixed wing Corsair, so don't fold the wings... (The -1A/-1D book went to the printer today, so we should have lots more details available next month.) Cheers, Dana

Hi David, Will you provide some details when the set arrives? I just checked it out on Sprue Brothers, and while there are two different length MHF antenna masts, I can't tell if these are the phenolic "plastic" masts used on earlier Corsairs or the formed sheet aluminum masts used on later aircraft and retrofitted to earlier aircraft. (The aluminum sheet masts were bent around a master, and had a riveted ridge on the trailing edge.) Either type mast will be useful, but knowing the type will help me figure which project I might buy one for. Cheers, Dana

Wow, that was a long time ago! Thanks, Don - I must have lost my copy of that three computer crashes ago... Cheers, Dana

Hi Thierry, Someone must have fed Steve some bad data on those 12th BG aircraft. (That or Osprey went off on their own again.) We ran the serials, and some of those aircraft never even passed through the MTO. The aircraft you're asking about only served in the CBI. Cheers, Dana

Hi Gunfighter, The contrast on that canal shot is pretty poor, but on the better quality photos you can see the Intermediate Blue on the fuselage sides. You're right about the insignias, though - it will make for a very interesting model! Cheers, Dana

Hi John, I'd have to say that your evidence is very strong that some Goodyear-built Corsairs used only primer on portions of the cowl interior. From the archival side of the discussion, I haven't anything that indicates when such a change was introduced, how long it was in play, or how many manufacturers might have used it. I wish we had a lot more unrestored Corsairs out there to help establish some parameters! Cheers, Dana

Hi Jeff, I'm caught up in the holidays and family things, but I still hope to deliver in January and publish in February! Cheers, Dana

Kepford certainly flew several Corsairs, but the aircraft seen in the famous right side, ground photo is a later-model F4U-1A. When I brighten up my 600 dpi scan of that image, the serial appears to be in the 563xx range. The good news is that we can eliminate a number of the colors used in that transition period in late-summer 1943. The cockpit is almost certainly Interior Green - the true color that we've all been using since the 1960s, not one of the earlier substitutes. All unfinished interior components would have been untinted (yellow) zinc chromate. If the surface was Alclad, there would be a single coat of yellow; anything else would have had two coats of untinted yellow. Wheel wells would have had a finish coat of Light Gray or (more likely) white; the same possibilities would exist for the gear legs. The inside of the cowl and cowl flaps could have been finished in Light Gray or Intermediate Blue. The other interesting feature of the camouflage in that photo is the lack of Intermediate Blue on the fuselage. Instead, the NS Sea Blue appears to have been feathered down the sides (before and aft of the wing) to subtly blend into the white of the undersurfaces. Intermediate Blue did appear on the vertical tail, under the outer wing panels, and a few feathered inches into the wing center section. (I'm looking forward to seeing who's first to enter a Corsair in that scheme at a model contest!!!) Cheers, Dana

Hi Tim, The color was Aircraft Gray, orignally known as Navy Gray but renamed to end confusion with the paint used on ship hulls. Eventually it became the modern Aircraft Gray (aka ADC Gray, Air Defense Gray, Adcom Gray, etc) 16473. The prewar color was much lighter, however. My 1933 Navy color chip looks a lot like 16515, though very slightly darker. When the ANA chips were created, the color changed slightly, becoming a touch lighter and ever-so-slightly browner. It became much bluer and darker as 16473. I don't know if anyone still make 16515 (Boeing Gray), though I think Model Master used to. If you're mixing your own, find any light blue-gray and lighten for scale and personal taste! Cheers, Dana

Hi Danny, The window was probably still there on LA City Limits - it wasn't eliminated until BuNo 50066, which was the 2531st Vought-built Corsair. BTW, Freeman had an earlier Corsair with similar markings. The first LA City Limits was BuNo 17666, squadron number 20, which shed its ailerons pulling out from a dive; the aircraft recovered safely. The accident took place 6 September 1943. Enjoy the model! Cheers, Dana

Hi Allan, It's a strong possibility, but I can't be certain due to the shadows. One day some better pix will surface! Cheers, Dana

Hi Ray, You are 100% correct about F63 -- I chose the images of that aircraft because they showed that feathered scheme, but then I wrote the caption just before dawn after a very sleepless night. (Sorry, but that's my only excuse!) The scheme depicted is an almost perfect match for the factory drawing in VS-10900-G, showing the "gradual" transition from NS Sea Blue to white. Thanks for catching that - you've a good eye! Cheers, Dana

Hi Gary, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you on this - there've been a number of other questions that needed answering, and I've been handling the easier ones first. With any luck, your copy of the book has arrived and you've had a chance to see my opinions of how the schemes worked out. I believe that most of the aircraft that have been interpreted as having Blue Gray and Light Gray applied with a Light Gray tail and high demarcation on the fuselage are actually variations of the 4-tone graded camouflage -- this would include Marine's Dream and Viva. I feel I can distinguish the multiple colors, and the pattern appears to match what was described as the original 4-tone camouflage. We now know that a number of Blue Gray/Light Gray Corsairs were repainted at North Island before they were shipped to the South Pacific. Once there, many were touched up to counter the extremes of weathering. Anyway, that's what I think we're seeing -- as always, it's just an opinion of a bunch of old black and white photos! I'd love to see what else you have on L68! Cheers, Dana

Hi Folks, A note on foreign orders - copies of the books are heading to sellers outside of the US, and should be there in a few weeks. If you'd like a copy sooner, the publisher (Steve Wiper listed as Shipcraft Books on US Amazon) has worked out a shipping arrangement that far less expensive than anything I've been able to come up with. You can e-mail Steve via Amazon and he'll fill you in on the details. Also, regardless of how you order internationally, the price to ship 2 or 3 books is about the same as ordering 1 - if you have friends who might be interested, you might get a better deal. Again, contact Steve via US Amazon before you order. Cheers, Dana

Hi folks I hope these images are clear enough that you can make out the details; my 600 dpi originals are too large to display here. Also, these aircraft are all FG-1s; I have similarly painted F4Us, but these images are clearer for our purposes. Images 1, 4, 6, and 7 show FG-1 F63 (BuNo 13161) of VMF-313 on 21 October 1943. Here, the NS Sea Blue has been brought down the fuselage sides almost to the belly; the painter sprayed a thin band of NS Sea Blue at the bottom, then filled in above that demarcation line with a lighter spray of NS Sea Blue. Image 2 FG-1 F163 (BuNo 13061) of VMF-313 on 20 October 1943. (It looks like VMF-313 has a couple of consecutive rough days that October!) This is the only shot I have of this bird, but it appears the demarcation line runs above the wing – the shadow makes me less than certain. Image 3 FG-1 (BuNo 13041) photographed during tests of the Westinghouse 19A jet engine on 18 January 1944. This photo is closest to the specs, beginning the transition from solid NS Sea Blue higher on the fuselage, then feathering down the fuselage sides. The scheme was really foolish, when you think of it - as the paint wore away, the camouflage would become lighter, but touch ups were nearly impossible to match to the surrounding finish. Image 5 FG-1 L68 (BuNo 13057) VMF-124 16 March 1944. Clearly in service for some time, this aircraft has seen some of its camouflage abraded by the conditions at Mojave. Note the combination of extended forged tail wheel strut and early hard rubber tire – I've never found documentation explaining this, since use of the small solid tire was forbidden by BuAer in mid-1943. Thanks Kev for posting these. Cheers, Dana

Hi Scoobs, I thought we'd been in contact! (Parts of my memory aren't what they used to be, but we used real names in our correspondence and I have a pretty tough time sorting names and faces.) Here's the heretical part of the color story in the new book: Everything I've seen suggests there was only one version of the Blue Gray/Light Gray scheme, and that version used a demarcation line at the middle of the cowl bending down to the wing leading edge, then picking up again at the trailing edge along the lower aft fuselage to turn up before the tail. Everything above that line - including the fuselage above the wing and the entire vertical tail - would have been Blue Gray. There were several variations of the graded 3-tone (4-tone) scheme. (While "3-tone" is how we normally refer to the scheme, I add to the confusion by using "4-tone" since NS Sea Blue and Semi-gloss Sea Blue are two distinctly different colors, not just different gloss factors.) The original Navy graded camouflage called for an NS Sea Blue upper fuselage, Intermediate Blue sides, with the demarcation line high on the fuselage, and a White belly, The vertical tail was to be Intermediate Blue. I believe this is the scheme that has previously been interpreted as a variation of the Blue Gray/Light Gray camouflage. Vought, Brewster, and Goodyear were required to sand/smooth the surfaces of their Corsairs, particularly at any color demarcations, so Vought sought permission to change the upper demarcation, drawing the Sea Blue down the fuselage over the top of the wing - this gave them short demarcations before and after the wing while eliminating the longer demarcation high on the fuselage (over the wing) and lower on the fuselage (where the Semi-gloss Sea Blue of the wing met the Intermediate Blue of the fuselage). The Navy eventually approved this scheme, but only after contractors had begun applying the original 4-tone camouflage. North Island seems to have preferred the orignal scheme on the Blue Gray/Light Gray aircraft it repainted for combat in the Pacific. We're all used to the Intermediate Blue sides (before and after the wings) and that is the version of the 4-toned scheme used at Norfolk for repaints (with a demarcation variation discussed elsewhere by Tommy Thomason). The scheme was also eventually used by the manufacturers, but first BuAer directed the manufacturers to use a two-color variation on the fuselage. Drawing VS-10900-G called for the gradual lightening of the Sea Blue as it moved down the fuselage sides, approximating the value of Intermediate Blue where the fuselage was tangent to the horizontal, then fading into the white. Since the scheme was to get lighter as the shadows got darker, it would be very hard to distinguish, unless the aircraft was inverted follwing a ground loop. (Vertical tails were to be Intermediate Blue.) This scheme would have been as difficult for factory painters to apply as it would for modelers, and there were shortcuts. In some cases the Sea Blue was carried to a point low on the fuselage, then quickly feathered in a foot-wide band. In some photos, I could swear that a thin band or Intermediate Blue was substituted for the feathered Sea Blue. In a few cases, the Sea Blue seems to have a hard demarcation - very little feathering. Thus endeth the heresy. There are more details in the book; I wish I could find a pattern to the patterns - an explanation of when certain variations were applied - but hundreds of dated photos, organized by serial number, only suggest that any variation could appear at any time before the introduction of overall Glossy Sea Blue. I hope this makes sense - I normally shouldn't type before dawn - but I've sent Kev some images that might help. Cheers, Dana

Hi Ray, While that combination is possible, the original B&W images I've seen suggest that most modifications to the Blue Gray/Light Gray scheme involved complete repaints of the fuselage. I haven't found any decent evidence for the Sea Blue/Blue Gray/White (or /Light Gray) fuselage, but I can't discount it completely. Repainting under the outer wing panels is another issue altogether. A report from the South Pacific that discussed reworking the outer wing panels included a supply list that used equal amounts of NS Sea Blue and Blue Gray (which suggests to me that the Blue Gray was to be used beneath the wing, where Intermediate Blue would normally appear.) Cheers, Dana

Thanks, Kev, Glad to be on board! It seems I'm too new to the site to send PMs, but if you'll e-mail me at danabell@earthlink.net I'll send some pix with my thanks for posting them. Cheers, Dana