My current project is a 48th scale Tamiya F4U-1 Birdcage. BuAer 02153 to be exact, the first production Corsair.
This is intended to eventually become a full-blown article on how to build a very early Corsair, but right now i'm trying to fine tune the shade of blue gray paint on the upper surfaces. A friend of mine suggested using Floquil US Navy ANA Blue Gray so i thought i'd give it a try. i looked at as many photographs of the plane as i could (both Colour and Black and White) , so i had a pretty good idea of what the Blue Gray "Should" look like.
Here's are unaltered pics i took today of my Corsair with the outer wing panels sprayed Floquil Blue Gray.
Now you might say, "Well, that looks reasonably close. perhaps a little dark. Maybe the photo is under exposed a bit but not too bad."
Keep in mind that i'm going for a brand spanking new, factory-fresh Corsair that might have 3 hours worth of engine runs and maybe 1 1/2 hours flying time on it.
Now, here is the photo adjusted so you can see how the Blue Gray looks in daylight:
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Now maybe i'm a colour Nazi, maybe not. It's not my call. But when viewed up close the Blue Gray looks an awful lot like USN Intermediate Blue. Much more than the Blue Gray i was hoping for.
I swapped some messages with David Rapasi, who has done some invaluable research into these early wartime colours and he suggested a new mixing formula i'm gonna try soon. The paint is mixed up and ready to go. Just need to spray the wings and see how it looks.
Bottom line- Look as many photographs as you can and take the painted model out into direct sunlight. Go with your gut. If it says the colour is off, it probably is.
david
