Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: Krusty on April 03, 2009, 10:50:31 PM

Title: wildcat request (and/or info?)
Post by: Krusty on April 03, 2009, 10:50:31 PM

I ran across an interesting Martlet (F4F) profile on a modeling site. It was a decal review.

(http://www.nakatomitower.com/wildcat.jpg)

description as such:

"In this area things vary somewhat as initial Martlet deliveries were from a French order so the colors of these planes are Sea Green 28, Flag Blue 24 over Light Blue 27, very similar to the FAA's tropical scheme. These aircraft also had the port underside of the wing in night as was the norm for the time."

So, is this legit? Seems a bit more vibrant than the usual FAA camo doesn't it?

Anybody up for skinning it?

Title: Re: wildcat request (and/or info?)
Post by: Greebo on April 04, 2009, 01:56:52 AM

I recall looking at this one when I was skinning Wildcats. Trouble is the wings on the AH Wildcat are mirrored, so there is no way of doing the left and right wings different colours.

Title: Re: wildcat request (and/or info?)
Post by: jocko- on April 04, 2009, 03:06:44 PM

Short answer: Yes, it's legit.

Long answer: Like the Mustangs and P-40s delivered to the RAF, these Martlets (or G-36A to the French) were painted in US equivalent camo colours before delivery overseas.  The scheme is meant to emulate the Tropical Sea scheme, not the Temperate one we are used to seeing on most FAA/RN aircraft.  The British colours used would have been Light Mediterranean Blue and Dark Sea Green over Sky.  Sky was relatively new in 1940 and not readily available yet.  Grumman would have had equivalent paints for Sky Grey and Sky Blue, both pre-war RAF colours.  Since Sky was colloquially described by the Air Ministry as a 'duck egg blue', Grumman probably chose Sky Blue for the undersides.  It is a weird scheme, perhaps they were originally planned on being deployed in the far east.  The earliest of the French Martlets had the full rudder stripes as seen on some allied aircraft during the BoF.  My references have a profile of one of these, before the introduction of the Night marking, so it could be done.

I skinned this one for IL-2 a couple of years ago using the F4F-3 model, since the Martlet MkI had a different gun arrangement I consider it a 'hack'.  Never got around to finishing it.  BTW, the Sky fuselage band shouldn't be there, at the time I was using this skin to get the band placement right for another skin I was working on.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/jocko417/th_grab0002-1.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v621/jocko417/?action=view&current=grab0002-1.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/jocko417/th_B-1.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v621/jocko417/?action=view&current=B-1.jpg) 

Title: Re: wildcat request (and/or info?)
Post by: G0ALY on April 07, 2009, 05:34:18 PM

Somewhat related, here is a WONDERFUL color pic of mustangs painted in the US for shipment overseas.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/1138?size=_original (http://www.shorpy.com/node/1138?size=_original)

Shorpy.com in a really intesting site full of old photos.

Here is a color pic of an A20 http://www.shorpy.com/node/1031?size=_original (http://www.shorpy.com/node/1031?size=_original)

Title: Re: wildcat request (and/or info?)
Post by: lyric1 on April 07, 2009, 06:25:09 PM

Great colour pics looks as if they could have been taken yesterday.

Title: Re: wildcat request (and/or info?)
Post by: jocko- on April 08, 2009, 12:21:15 AM

Mmmmm, Mustang IA...

Title: Re: wildcat request (and/or info?)
Post by: avionix on April 10, 2009, 03:53:42 PM

Wow!!!  Not sure if I have seen WWII colou pics that nice and crisp before.  Nice find.