The F4U-2 was a early model F4U-1 and modified for the night fighter role. Besides the obvious radome on the starboard wing it also had 1 of the guns removed on that side to even the weight. AIA type radar was installed along with a Very High Frequency (VHF) radio and a instrument panel specific for night fighting. Since these were early F4U-1s they had all the problems as well, oil leaks, bouncy landing gear and bad visibility over the nose. Most of these were fixed after being received, middle cowl flaps deleted and a taller rear landing gear. Navy squad VF(N)-101 was the only one to operate from CV's and had to deal with the bouncy gear.
When it comes to the scheme of F4U-2's there's plenty of speculation and guessing, mainly because there were 34 originally built and almost all came off the line in ANA Sea Gray over ANA Light Aircraft Gray. They were all repainted to the familiar tri-color scheme at the depot level where it was up to the skill of the painter and the technique used. The only exceptions are 2 conversions of -1A's done in the pacific theater, the very last -2's that came off in the correct scheme and the very first prototype. Add to that that USN -2's were repainted in a non standard scheme. So two looking alike is highly unlikely. To make it more confusing the tri-color scheme is actually a 4 color scheme, the top of the wing surfaces should be Sea Blue Semi Gloss. There different ways to achieve the proper look, which of course didn't require using all 4 colors.
Looking at VMF(N)-532's planes and profiles it looks like they had a variation of each of these except for example 1.
1. non-specular Blue 60 degrees above horizontal, mottle it to 30 degrees below horizontal, non-spec white below that. Very difficult and rare.
2. non-spec Blue 60 degrees above horizontal and mottle to Intermediate Blue and mottle that in white. Early Manufacture and Depot level, My VMF-225 skin
3. non-spec Blue and mottle it to white at the 30 degree mark. Easy modification of 1, very little blending and may use IM Blue for blend.
4. The recognizable "Tri-Color" Norfolk scheme. Below.
Blue Gray over Light Gray vs Norfolk Scheme
Read though lots of pages of people confusing the Non Spec Blue as a black just because it was a "Night Fighter". The Pics of the USN -2's cause most this issue as they painted the sides Semi Gloss Sea Blue which is darker than the non-spec version.
