Saturday, October 15, 2016

F4U Corsair for Flames of War Pacific

   As I may have mentioned previously, I am working on a company of US Marines for the Flames of War Pacific rules. Marines need air cover, and it is ably supplied by the Vought F4U Corsair.

   I did a bit of research on paint jobs for the Corsair, and essentially there are three. I went with a sort of midwar version, the three-color. On top is a dark blue (I used Prussian Blue), with a thin intermediate blue color (Pale Grey Blue - too light, really) transition of irregular shape, and an underside of insignia white (Ivory). The engine cowling is yellow (Deep Yellow). All colors used are Vallejo Model Colors.





   I used decals for the national insignia and the aircraft number. You may note the lack of kill markers. It seems that the Navy and Marines by extension were much stricter about the personalization of an aircraft; also, it was unusual for a Navy or Marine pilot to have a single aircraft assigned to them. So personalization was even less common, and strictly forbidden by the Navy. I am painting mine as land based (hence the lack of tail markings which would denote the carrier from which the squadron operated) and therefore Marine Air Wing, not Naval Aviation.

   This particular Corsair isn't quite finished. I need to add the rockets under the wings. Historically, apparently they should be olive drab. But that would look like crap. So I think I am going to go with white rockets. It might be a bit anachronistic, but it will look better, and this is just toy soldiers, after all...

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