F4U-2s were F4U-1s rebuilt by NAF as nightfighters. From the Vought factory the 1s would have been blue grey over light grey with salmon primer cockpit and landing gear wells. NAF repainted the exterior the reg 3 tone scheme. I’d imagine the cockpit would have been repainted black (for is nocturnal role) . Would the wheel wells have been left the Vought primer or been repainted insignia white (underside color)?
Doesn’t fully answer but interesting.
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That is part of the intel I have. That and this from IPMS Stockholm. " Vought F4U Corsair
Sorting out the interior colours of the Corsair is particularly tricky. For the F4U-1 Birdcage Corsairs, photos taken at the time show the cockpits being a very dark colour, most probably black. Analysis of some crashed examples of F4U-1s indicates black, while the factory Erection & Maintenance Instructions called for Dull Dark Green.
As mentioned before, early production Corsairs had their interior surfaces in areas other than the cockpit covered with Salmon primer. This colour mixture was used relatively long into Corsair production. It would seem that all F4U-1s and a number of early F4U-1As were finished this way.
Somewhere during the production of F4U-1A model Vought discontinued the use of Salmon primers and switched to Zinc Chromate Yellow with cockpits in Interior Green.
In the engine cowling area, Vought adhered to the practice of painting its inner surface the same colour as the underside, ANA 602 Sky Gray on early F4U-1s, ANA 601 Insignia White on F4U-1As.
The wheel wells of early model Corsairs deserve closer inspection. Like the cowlings, the main wheel wells, undercarriage legs and boths ides of well covers were painted in the underside camouflage colour, ANA 602 Non-specular Sky Gray. Wheel hubs were silver. However, the smaller forward area of the wheel to which the leg itself retracted was left in the factory primer finish, Salmon. Some aircraft had also Salmon inner surfaces of the small covers attached to the undercarriage legs.
The canvas covers in the wells were probably drab -coloured.
With the advent of the tri-colour camouflage on F4U-1A the same principle was applied with white replacing the Sky Gray with ANA 601 Non-specular Insignia White, and the However, the undercarriage legs remained grey throughout the production of this model, possibly due to the failure or indifference to notify a subcontractor about changed colour specifications. For the record, some photos of -1As seem to show silver undercarriage legs, but it could not be established to what extent such finish was applied. One theory is that Aluminium lacquer was applied on these assemblies during field depot overhauls.
In October 1944 the new factory instructions for the F4U production called for application of Interior Green on all internal surfaces including the cockpit. As an anti-glare measure, all cockpit panels above the lower edge of the instrument panel were to be painted matt black. Curiously, the new directive did not explicitly state what was to happen with the cowling’s inner surface. Thus, subsequent machines showed either Zinc Chromate or Interior Green cowlings, until the last standardisation of colour post-war whereupon black was introduced in this area.
During that period, the wheel wells were also painted Interior Green. Undercarriage legs were initially still finished in light grey, but as existing stocks of parts were used up at the factory, the overall Glossy Sea Blue finish was carried over to the undercarriage legs and wheel hubs." I misread. thought the early cockpits were salmon primer, but they were a dark color.
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I realize this was posted dec of 24 but wheel wells and doors were not chromate yellow or int green. the were insig white along with landing gear. later when they went overall blue the wheel wells and gear followed suit.
Joe
" interior surfaces in areas other than the cockpit covered with Salmon primer." is in reference to areas like radio compartment, life raft compartment, inner fuselage surface, which were ZC or interior green. Wheel wells, etc, are mentioned separately. “The wheel wells of early model Corsairs deserve closer inspection. Like the cowlings, the main wheel wells, undercarriage legs and both sides of well covers were painted in the underside camouflage colour, ANA 602 Non-specular Sky Gray. Wheel hubs were silver. However, the smaller forward area of the wheel to which the leg itself retracted was left in the factory primer finish, Salmon. Some aircraft had also Salmon inner surfaces of the small covers attached to the undercarriage legs.”
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I don’t follow what you are describing here. the wheel leg was salmon?
I believe you mean the small cover on the front of the undercarriage. which is what i thought you were talking about in the quote above at first.
I am not sure about the primer/paint in the early blue over grey early birdcages. i was wondering what the color would be for them. when i was talking to Dana Bell it was about the tri color scheme, which as he showed was actually a 4 color scheme, so that is the version i was referring to. from there on the bays were all insg white and the later models were gloss sea blue, same color as the rest of the plane. i see many builds where they painted the bays interior green and that is not correct. i guess it is a pet peeve of mine, there are many photos of it. i have yet to see a bay painted salmon on the very first batch of corsairs. i am not sure they were all salmon.
Joe
I wasnt describing anything. It was a quote from IPMS Stockholm. Does look like a typo… should have said “wheel well”… (NOTE: photo is from google. Not my circus. Not my monkeys.)
As for the early blue grey/grey aircraft … from the same article …" the main wheel wells, undercarriage legs and boths ides of well covers were painted in the underside camouflage colour, ANA 602 Non-specular Sky Gray. " (There is another typo… SHould say “both sides” ,not “boths ides”.) The next sentence in the quote is the reference to the forward section of the WHEEL WELL (where the strut is mounted to the airframe) having been left salmon primer. My query was seeing the airframes left Vought with blue grey/ grey paint job, with the forward section of the wheel well and the inside of its covering door left (allegedly) salmon primer, then sent to NAF for conversion into F4U-2s and repainted in the then regulation 3 (4) tone scheme if the forward section of the wheel well and covering door interior would have again been left the salmon primer? Or would they have bothered to yank the landing gear out (Not, I would think, required to install a radar system.) so they could repaint the afore mentioned areas insignia white?
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you think they would need to yank the whole landing to paint the inside of the cover? yeah if so i could see why they would leave it. note- the photo above the inside of the covers and gear are painted wrong. they should be gloss dark blue like the rest of the plane.
so the early grey corsairs undersides would have grey wheel wells and covers. that helps when i build one.
Joe
As I said about the pic., not my circus,not my monkey. 
Just good to show the areas I needed. Not sure how many were grey. Paint reg changed in Dec.1940. Oct. 41 it changed to Blue grey over light grey. First flight was May 40. Entered service Dec. 42. Early operational ones were probably blue grey/ grey. Proto type and pre production , T&E ones would have been just grey. Also, from what I read, late ones from Vought had interior green wheel wells . Navy repainted them dark blue at first overhaul … allegedly. Also, landing gear struts were the light grey color. Later they were dark blue too. Intel I saw said some were lacquered aluminum, but they were probably replacements done at sqn or depot level . PHOTOS: WIP F4U-2 and F4U-1D U-2 was a U-1 rebuilt by NAF and painted 3(4) tone scheme . 1D is dark blue scheme. 3 tone intermediate blue is NOT the same as Blue Grey. Darker blue was not the same as the Dark Sea Blue (I’ve seen builds where the colors were thought to be interchangeable. 1D underside, wells are interior green … hasn’t been in for overhaul yet. U-2 , I punted. Wells were painted salmon, repainted insignia white (actully a tinge of grey, not “white” ) and worn to show some primer.
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