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Model Forum / General / Models / August 2007Changes in Pacific Theater Aircraft Paint Color Question
In the early years, the USN used a lighter color of blue, but when the Hellcat showed up, it is shown in a much darker blue. any reasoning behind the change of shade ??? I guess the two tone scheme was new too.. I was looking at the new trumpeter hellcat review on cybermodeler and it got me thinking....I;ve always liked the Hellcat, except for the color it had. thx - Craig on 8/3/2007 12:19 PM crw59@earthlink.net said the following: > In the early years, the USN used a lighter color of blue, but when the > Hellcat showed up, it is shown in a much darker blue. > > any reasoning behind the change of shade ??? I guess the two tone > scheme was new too.. > Camouflage. The dark blue matched the Pacific Ocean better than light blue. They brought back the light blue as a transition color between the dark blue and grey bottom on the Corsair, for one. > I was looking at the new trumpeter hellcat review on cybermodeler and > it got me thinking....I;ve always liked the Hellcat, except for the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >  SignatureBill In Hamptonburgh, NY To email, remove the double zeroes after @ > In the early years, the USN used a lighter color of blue, but when the > Hellcat showed up, it is shown in a much darker blue. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > thx - Craig Early model Hellcats wore the three-tone camouflage. Some may even had the red-outlined stars-&-bars on the fuselage. I'd have to check on that though. Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. The Hellcat in USN colors had three versions AFAIK, all over light bluegrey - not used operational, then standard three tone darb blue over intermediate blue with white undersurfaces and finally all over gloss insignia blue. At the end of the war allied/US air superiority was so clear that camouflage was not needed, ie. landbased planes in natural metal, while navy planes needed corrotion protection. The Hellcat also appeared in FAA camouflage and in bright orange as drones. SignatureClaus Gustafsen Strandby Denmark mail me at claus@gustafsen.nu See my modeling at www.gustafsen.nu >> In the early years, the USN used a lighter color of blue, but when the >> Hellcat showed up, it is shown in a much darker blue. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. > The Hellcat in USN colors had three versions AFAIK, all over light > bluegrey - not used operational, then standard three tone darb blue over [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > The Hellcat also appeared in FAA camouflage and in bright orange as drones. > My father served in a B-24 bomber group during the war; when they went from the flat olive drab top/light gray bottom camouflage to natural metal, the plane's performance noticeably improved due to the greater smoothness of the finish and reduction in weight due to being unpainted. I assume the gloss dark blue paint was chosen for a smooth surface finish to reduce drag. The finish would make the aircraft hard to see from above over the ocean (baring sun glint) but very easy to see from the side or below. this would seem to indicate that they were concerned with enemy fighters attacking from above more than surface vessel or ground-based anti-aircraft fire. Considering how many ground attack missions the Hellcat flew late in the war against Japanese island defenses, that's a little strange. Pat On 3 Aug, 17:19, "cr...@earthlink.net" <cr...@earthlink.net> wrote: > In the early years, the USN used a lighter color of blue, but when the > Hellcat showed up, it is shown in a much darker blue. > > any reasoning behind the change of shade ??? I guess the two tone > scheme was new too.. IIRC, it was to match the colour the carrier decks were then being painted - that's why the dark colour is also on the underside of that portion of wings which were visible from above when folded. The dark blue decks were a very effective camouflage agains aerial observation (USN schemes were optimised for this, unlike RN schemes which still prioritised surface observation), and camouflaging the aircraft was less important than not compromising the camouflage of the carrier. > I was looking at the new trumpeter hellcat review on cybermodeler and > it got me thinking....I;ve always liked the Hellcat, except for the > color it had. Regards, >Craig Moramarth > camouflaging the aircraft was less important than not compromising the camouflage of the carrier. By 1944 the aircraft didn't need to hide, but they did need a coat of paint to keep out the corrosion. |
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