I need suggestions on paint colors for some planes i need to paint.
Tamiya F4U-1A Corsair
AM SB2U-3 Vindicator
AM SBD-5 Dauntless
I prefer using MM but i am open to any suggestions you all might have. [?]I do intend on airbrushing them (Omni 4000 love it) [:)]BTW the boss opened the checkbook so i gotta do this soon[:D]
For the Corsair and Dauntless, you can do a flat sea blue top, intermediate blue sides, and insignia white bottoms. I believe they also served in overall glossy sea blue. I think you could paint the Vindicator in Neutrality Patrol overall light gull grey, but definitely blue gray over light gull gray. All of these colors are available in MM.
I was going to give you two or three schemes but even then, you would need references to a particular a/c (especially if you should decide you want one of the colorful pre-war schemes on the Vindicator - to get the colors right, you need to know the carrior, the squadron and the section to get the tail and nose colors right)
So my suggestion (provided it’s ok with the boss) is to get Squadron’s “In Action” book on each aircraft. That way you not only have a much wider choices as to color, plus you’ve got pictures also. And they’re going to be about the cheapest book references you’re going to find.
Just a thought
I’m with Quincy on the desirability of the pre-war yellow-winged Vindicator, and we have a fantastic new company in Yellow-Wings Decals that puts out dozens of sheets for nothing but US Navy planes in those 1930-1941 pre-war bright colors, plus some new sheets for early-war markings. Unfortunately, the SB2U-3, the version of the AM kit I’m “stuck” with as well, never wore those bright feathers. Only the SB2U-1 and -2 wore the bright colors. And to make the retro-conversion requires a new tail. So, my choice would be the version on the box top, only in a slightly earlier version than Midway. That’s blue-gray over neutral gray, with the 40-inch roundels with the red centers and the red-andwhite-striped rudder (the kit roundels are the wrong size for any -3 Vindicator). You can get these decals from Yellow-Wings (www.yellow-wingsdecals.com) or through Squadron.
I have an AM SBD-2 Dauntless I have the chevrons, fuselage bands and all other markings for and I plan to do it as a pre-war bird, since it was the last (and only USN) Dauntless to wear these markings. The Marines got all the SBD-1’s, and their’s were colorful as well, for a time. The only difference was that the Marines didn’t have the tail in the color of the ship they flew from, instead featuring a vertically striped rudder. You’re pretty limited on your SBD-5, but a few were medium blue over white or light gray and a lot of the late ones were Gloss Sea Blue.
As for your Corsair, since you’re limited there, I personally prefer the Dark Sea Blue, Medium Blue, White scheme, especially with the outboard (folding sections) of the wings painted in (corrected me if I’m wrong) medium blue on the bottom and dark blue on the tops.
At least, even if you don’t have the planes with the brightest colors, you have three fine kits there, so you can’t complain too much (though, if you’re like me, you do anyway).
TOM