John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)

The window was not normally painted over. Sometimes it could have been, but it was more important to keep the planes in working order. In every picture I have seen of overturned Corsairs that left the factory with the window, they were left as is. There could have been some that were painted, but this was the exception rather than the rule.

Here's a breakdown showing when the window was replaced with a metal part. This is when the window was replaced with a metal access panel, that allowed the ground crews to gain access to the lower cockpit area often called the "Hell Hole".

On Vought built Corsairs it was done after Bureau Number 50067.

Goodyear built Corsairs had this done after Bureau Number 13893.

All Brewster built Corsairs had the window.

This next picture shows a breakdown and was a statement made by Dana Bell who has written several outstanding books on the Corsair. He also is on the side where the windows were left alone as is and not painted over.

Could they have been painted ? Sure they could, but it was not likely done.

Instead what I firmly believe was often the case, is a mistaken identity where a later model of the Corsair that was built without the window was misidentified as an earlier plane.

In the end the choice is yours. It would really depend on what the Bureau Number of the particular aircraft was to determine if indeed the window was present.

Personally, I would mask it off and keep it clear. You can always come back later and paint it if you decided to.

But it is your model, so build it however it pleases you. The object is to have fun.

Jeff Wilson (@f4phantom)

As far as the actual designation for the F4U-1A goes, it was an informal designation used to tell the difference between the older "birdcage" version, and the newer "Raised Cockpit" version. From what I have read in Dana Bell's books, this was not an official designation used. Instead they called it the raised cabin.

You can look at some of the bureau numbers painted on the rudders on some Corsairs that fall into this category. None of them have a "F4U-1A" nomenclature stenciled on the rudder.

Instead, every one of them simply says "F4U-1". They didn't make any distinction between the two. The first rudder is on a F4U-1A version as we have started calling it. This last one is a "birdcage", something else we have coined.

@lgardner - that first photo of the F4U-1 birdcage on its nose has a likely color in the wheel well of interior green. The first production versions were painted that way to cover the salmon primer. That color is too dark to be underside light grey.

Thanks for the other information.

Tom Cleaver (@tcinla)
You're welcome ! Here's some more information that you might find interesting.

John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)

The early Corsairs had the main gear wells painted in the same color as the surrounding wing skin metal. They would have been a light gray color in the "birdcage" version. Here's a set of very good pictures, showing the main gear wells of a "survivor" that was pulled from the Great Lakes.

You can see the "salmon" primer color coming through the Light Gray.

The Corsair in the picture you mentioned was an early version of the Corsair that incorporated "aileron droop" when the flaps were deployed. The first 325 Corsairs built had this aileron droop feature. It was deleted after this.

You can see how the sunlight has affected the color of the ailerons, which believe it or not were made of wood !

This leads me to believe this particular photo is of one of the first 325 Corsairs that we see here.

I think the darkness we are seeing in these picture is simply dirt or leaked hydraulic fluid that has been wiped off, staining the Light Gray paint, and causing the paint to look darker than what it actually is. The color is not uniformed either. Instead it is variegated and not the same throughout, as if it would likely have been if it was indeed painted over again.

However, it "could" have been repainted in the field. Anything is possible.

It looks like it is a color very close to the Gray Blue color seen on the underside of the outer wings. If it was painted over, it was not done very evenly...but this is also a possibility.

I zoomed in on the tail wheel doors here.
You can see a similar thing happening on the tail wheel doors, just behind the tail wheel tire, on the inner portion of the tail wheel doors. It is still the light gray color ahead of the tire.

Anything is possible once it was sent to a unit, and served in the field.

Here are two pictures of the main gear wells where I zoomed in. You can see a similar situation as to how it is a darker color, similar to what can be seen on the tail wheel doors.



This is the survivor Corsair as it was being lifted from the fresh water in the Great Lakes. It is Bureau Number 02465, and it was the 312th Corsair built.

It also would have had the aileron droop feature. It was used to assist the flaps on landings. Both of the ailerons would automatically drop 9 degrees when the flaps were deployed.

The odd thing we see in this picture is the flaps are not down... yet the ailerons look as if they are drooped. You can see the small gap between the edge of the aileron and the outboard flap.

Maybe the aircraft had a mechanical malfunction causing it to flip upon landing? It's possible the flaps didn't come down, yet the ailerons drooped.

Or was the joystick offset a little, causing this gap ? I don't know for sure.

It's also possible the ailerons were recently replaced, or possibly repainted, making them look darker than the surrounding areas.

This Corsair also has an underwing bomb rack installed. This is another sure sign it is an early bird...

The main gear wells were painted in a Light Gray on the Birdcage version, and then a White when the Tri Color camouflage was introduced.

Tamiya has the instruction call out paints wrong.

https://warbirdsnews.com/warbird-restorations/vought-f4u-1-birdcage-corsair-restoration-update.html

Here is a link to an update on a combat veteran Corsair that is currently undergoing restoration. It talks about a lot of things I mentioned. It also has a TON of outstanding photos. It's definitely worth the time to take a good look at, especially if you are a Corsair fanatic like I am.

I hope this helps to straighten things out on the colors of the Corsair gear wells. I'm always learning new things, and this subject of colors is a changing field, especially when new discoveries are being made.

Years ago I posted a model I built of this Great Lakes Corsair.

(Revised) 1/48 Hobby Boss F4U-1 “Early” Corsair, Great Lakes recovery Bureau Number 02465 “F-21”

I sincerely hope this helps you to decide on how you want to paint your model. In the end, it's yours, so please build it up however you please, and have some fun with it. Whatever you decide in the end will be perfect.

Great research, John (@johnb). Looking forward to this one.

Amazing info, my friend @lgardner!

Solid progress, my friend @johnb!

@fiveten, thank you, Spiros
@gblair, thanks, George. Just used them as a precaution, with this nice fitting I could have done even without clamps.