Hey. What color are the insides of engine cowls? Aluminum? Black? Same as maker’s interior/ cockpit color?
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I did some research when I was building my B6N and came up with semi gloss black as the answer. It’s possible it varied by maker and year though. Your mileage may vary
Most likely Aotake - a metallic blue/ green lacquer applied as an anti corrosion coating .
Here is a picture of an A6M restored in the USAF museum. This should be a Nakajima built aircraft as the wheel wells are Aotake . The inside of the cowl can be plainly seen in Aotake .
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Thoughts on another site is it didnt matter. After a short time theyd be black with oil flung off the engine.
I know the Mitsubishi A6Ms had the wheel wells painted the same color as the underside, Nakajima used Atoke. From the looks of the USAFM one, looks like it carried over to the inside cowl and oil cooler scoop. Would the Mitsubishis have used the atoke for these areas (and in side flaps) or ,like the wheel wells, used the underside color. (Side note: Would Nakajima A6Ms have used the Nakajima cockpit green? I’d think Yes.)
Nakajima would have used Nakajima Green for cockpits on aircraft they built .
I believe Mitsubishi would have used Aotake on the inside of the cowling because they used Aotake on the tail wheel bay .
you know this is one issue that is confusing to me. seems each manufacturer used a different color, even for the outside Mitsubishi, nakajima aichii (may be spelled wrong) all seem to have different shades of green and different colors for the cockpit and wheel wells. i am one who likes to be accurate in these areas and it keeps me from building these planes because i am not sure of correct colors. i go nuts when i see someone paint the inside of the corsairs interior green which is wrong so i don’t want to be that guy who does the same with japaneese or any other aircraft for that matter.
is there anywhere to find a chart of the right colors for the different manufacturers?
Joe