Devastator cockpit color

[jwest21]

What color would the cockpit of a TBD-1 at Midway?  I have been looking online and have seen bronze green, interior green, green ZC, a more olive version of green ZC and aluminum lacquer.  Thanks.

[D Bellis]

Dana Bell has stated that the cockpit color was "unique", and began to be applied to TBD cockpits late in 1938. 

 

It looks to be a grayish dark green to my eye. Ohers might see it differently:

 

HTH,

D

[jwest21]

Thanks.  Thats definitely not Green ZC.  Wondering if Tamiya Green Drab would work as a starting point.

Edited December 28, 2023 by jwest21

[Dana Bell]

Although the Fleet reported that they had painted the cockpits Bronze Green, they had actually used black-tinted zinc chromate - AKA Green zinc chromate.  Had they added aluminum the color would have been callled Yellow Green.  Had they used a bit less black the color might have matched Interior Green.

 

In fact, the last four production aircraft from the original order and all fifteen aircraft on the second order left the factory with aluminized zinc chromate (no black pigment) - a bright pastel green.  The canopy frames on those aircraft were Bronze Green inside and out,

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

[jwest21]

OK, so they used their own version of bronze green.  Even easier- I'll just add some black to green ZC and use that.  Thanks.

[Dana Bell]

Sounds good - I look forward to seeing your build!

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Dana

[thierry laurent]

Actually this looks not far to RAF interior green but possibly just a little bit greyer.

[Rod Bettencourt]

JWest,

 

I just finished mine and in all my research I came up with is interior  green. This color is also stated in the book "TBD Devastator in action" . Seeing the sunken wreck pics looks like interior green to me. Here is a picture of what I did. I will be posting the finished pics very soon. By the way its a really good kit.

 

Rod

[Dana Bell]

Looks really good, Rod!  Were you quoting the original TBD Devastator in Action or the brand new In Action that came out a few weeks ago?

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

Edited December 29, 2023 by Dana Bell
one-letter typo

[Rod Bettencourt]

21 hours ago, Dana Bell said:

Looks really good, Rod!  Were you quoting the original TBD Devastator in Action or the brand new In Action that came out a few weeks ago?

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

Hello Dana,

 

No sir, It was the older one.

 

Rod

[Dana Bell]

Hi Rod,

 

Not a problem.  There can be endless discussions about color names and applications, and the new book updates that.

 

However, what really matters is how does the paint applied to a model appear, and your choice looks really good.  If I can ever make the time to build a TBD, I'll be very happy if mt cockpit looks as good as yours!

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Dana

[dennismcc]

I would like the new TBD book but it is not available in the UK yet, tried to buy it from Germany but the price of postage was prohibitive.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Dana Bell]

I'm not sure if Squadron has a copublishing or distribution agreement in the UK.  In the old days we could rely on Lionel Leventhal and Arms and Armour Press - those were truly great days with one of the best publishers!

 

Dana

(You might defray postage by buying multiple copies with friends and sharing postage.)

Edited December 30, 2023 by Dana Bell

[jwest21]

Well, now I have some time to wait because I knocked one of my nice Airscale pe seats onto the floor and my puppy grabbed it.  Had to order another PE set from the UK, so that kit is on hold for a.couple weeks

[thierry laurent]

Out of the four Devastator books I have, the new one from Dana is head and shoulders above the others (old SS in Action, Ginter and Schiffer).