1/32 Corsair

[jontybowd]

Hello folks, I'm new to this board so please forgive the daft question. I've recently got the 1/32 Ventura's corsair details but need you advise about the blue colour of the aircraft. My initial thought was to spray it in USN midnight blue but I am worried that this will be to dark and that the roundels will then appear to light. Could I get away with US Navy blue on the assumption that the plane must have been brand new at some stage and so the paint would not have faded. ? What would you folks suggest is the best colour to spray this particular aircraft ?

[Dave Homewood]

Hi Jonty,

Welcome to the forum. There are so many different Corsair paint colour schemes for the RNZAF it's unreal. Generally most arrived in the standard US Navy 4-tone scheme.

Then there were the NZ repaints, which were all sorts of colours.

You've indicated you want to make it look like a new aircraft. What model of Corsair are you looking at? If it's an F4U-1 or F4U-1D I think you'll be fine with the 4-tone scheme, which your kit instructions will probably detail.

If you want to make an FG-1D Corsair, later in the war, these seem to have arrived in the US Navy Glossy Blue Scheme. That's Glossy Sea Blue overall, with Non-specular Sea Blue on top of the cowl to cut down reflection. Non-specular simply means matt, or dull finish, of the same colour.

I highly recommend a book on NZ Corsairs by Warren P. Russell, which has hundreds of photos, loads of drawings for modellers and all the info you need, plus it's a great read and an excellent reference. It's written with modellers, historians and enthusiasts all in mind. You can still buy it from the author, see the advert on my site here. Believe me it's worth thr money.
www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Warren_Russell.htm

If you need to know more, or i haven't been specific enough, feel free to post again