Profile Photo
Rick Kent
13 articles

Camouflage & Markings – Grumman F4F Wildcat

December 18, 2014 · in Aviation · · 7 · 7.2K

Here's my collection of and profiles. Martlet was the early British name for the type but was later abandoned for the US name. The Royal Navy Martlets of 805 Sqn in North Africa in 1941/42 were delivered in the standard US Navy light grey finish, which some retained, including, in some cases, the USN Bureau number. Others were repainted in mid-stone and azure blue RAF colours. British Wildcats were usually painted in the temperate sea scheme of dark slate grey and extra dark sea grey over sky. Later US Navy aircraft operating from escort carriers in the Atlantic Ocean had the dark grey over white scheme as shown on the VC-58 example.

Reader reactions:
18  Awesome

12 additional images. Click to enlarge.


7 responses

  1. Once again thank you Rick for kindly posting some excellent reference pics for colour schemes.

  2. I agree...good stuff.

  3. Very nice profiles im like make me some ideas .TORCH Landings missing?

  4. Love them. Soooo cool. Thanks again, these are so great.

  5. Great profile, Rick ! Whats the best match for the dark gray in the Atlantic Scheme ? Some days ago, i put my HB FM-1 out of the pile

  6. Bernd, the British colour extra dark sea grey is pretty close to the gray used by the USN on Atlantic convoy escorts. They look very similar to the Royal Navy's Sea Hurricanes on similar duties. The USN also had long-range Liberators based in Cornwall, England, in the same colour scheme for anti-U boat convoy protection. There's an Aeromaster decal sheet for the Wildcat in my profile and it also has the VC-39/Liscombe Bay one on it.

    USS Guadalcanal had an interesting time in the Atlantic, including capturing U-505 on 15 June 1944 after she was forced to surface by depth charges from the carrier's Avengers. It was the first time since 1815 that a USN ship had captured an enemy ship at sea.

  7. Bernd, I just realised I made a mistake with the shade of grey in my reply to you - it should read dark sea grey, not extra dark sea grey.

Leave a Reply