NMF P-47 tail: zinc chromate or not?
 

Hello,

I have a doubt that I cannot resolve despite looking through my reference photos, by reading the P47 erection and maintenance manual, by searching here on RCU and also by searching for photos on the internet: some photos of restored P-47s show the area between the stab and the elevators, as well as the area between the fin and rudder to be the typical zinc chromate yellow color. Other airplanes, though, seem to show a natural aluminium color in these areas (or maybe aluminium colored paint?). Here are two photos that show what I'm talking about.

I can't find clear color wartime photos of this area of the P47, so I'm asking whether someone knows how were these areas finished back then for natural metal finish airplanes (OD pained Thunderbolts seem to be OD in these areas as well).
Perhaps someone had access to a non-restored airplane and has a photo of this area? Being in Italy I don't have a large collection of museums showing P47s (read: none :eek: ).

Best regards,

Andrea.

Andrea,
I also just came into this question for my Jug... lots of excellent information on the AirCorps web site. Here is a quick snap shot
from the 1945 structural repair docs regarding exposed aluminum and what the factory recommended for field repairs...
I am using the yellow zinc chromate on mine just like in your picture of the FHC P-47.

Hope this helps,

John

Dang, I had not thought about checking the maintenance manual. Stupid me...

In any case it's interesting that the paragraph you mention requires priming alclad panels (which should be already corrosion resistent due to their cladding) and no mention is made about magnesium parts, which should be even more susceptible to corrosion than all of the aluminium parts.

In any case I managed to find a few wartime color photos where it's (kinda sorta) possible to see the the color of these areas, and indeed a yellow color seems to be there.

So I'd say that the question is answered :)

Andrea

Radial power,

To answer you question it would have depended on if they were left in a natural aluminum finish or if they were painted in a Camoflauge color scheme. If left in a natural finish then no the zinc chromate would not get covered over.
But if they got painted then yes the zinc chromate would get painted over. Your two pictures from your previous post show just that. As the left hand picture is a natural metal surface and the right hand picture has been painted with a silver/Aluminum color paint.

Andrea, which P-47 are you trying to model your plane after? Do you have a color scheme picked out?

Later in the war the US did not paint the planes camouflage because air superiority was being established in EU and later in the Pacific. If you know the history of the plane you are modeling then the period of the war will tell you most likely how to detail your plane.
Also, Crew Chief's followed orders to paint planes as the mission or location dictated. In many cases they used any paint they could find and the planes were painted in the field not a nice paint shop.
The factory Zinc paint would not be painted silver most likely because the planes were not painted silver around the tail area. The wings of a Mustang for example are made smooth at the factory and then painted silver but this was done to maximize speed and performance on that plane. P-47's did not have any reason to paint the tail silver for performance.

I think the model looks better when the skin is natural and you can see the Zinc details, it's like seeing into the planes details, like layers.

I suggest you do a little research on the plane your interested in painting your model like and post some pics on here so we can help.

Hello,

the specific airplane that I'm planning to model is serial number 44-20456. It is a P-47D-30 RE that flew in the 368th fighter Group (397th fighter squadron), tactical code D3-V. See attached pics.

This definitely looks like a natural metal airplane (excepts for the painted areas, of course), so I suppose that unless someone back then decided to paint it with an aluminium colored paint for some reason, then the area between the tail surfaces should show the typical zinc chromate yellow color. What I was missing when I started this thread was the piece of information that P47s were not painted with an aluminium colored paint dureing the war.

I tried to ask the question in a general way so that it may come in handy for other people besides me. If the "rule" is that natural metal finish (NMF) airplanes have their zinc chromate coating showing in these areas and camouflaged airplanes do not, then everyone can decide how to paint these areas depending on their chosen subject. Especially if no wartime P-47 was painted with an aluminium colored paint. Asking specifically for this P-47D-30 RE may not answer the same question for someone modelling a P-47D-5, for example.

By the way, it's interesting that in the black & white pics one can clearly see the "Lizzy" nose art, while the color photos do not seem to show it, even though the serial number is clearly the same. Perhaps the airplane was repainted in between those sets of pics? But anyway I'm still very far from having a cowl to paint :)

Andrea

Looks like bare metal to me. Take a look at the Flying Heritage Collection P-47 in detail. It's one of the finest restored P-47's in the world. The photo of the bare metal P-47 with the blue stripe looks like one I took years ago. I've studied that plane up close many times and you can't go wrong with following its details. It's a factory original replica restoration.

Which kit are you building?

Here are two more close up shots of the zinc details.

A few more...

The way the rivets are ground flush with the surface of the skin leaves an interesting detail, see the cowl. Very few people model this detail and yet its a factory production standard.

Hello,

I'm using a Top Flite Giant P-47 kit as a base, but I'm going to modify it quite a bit to make it more scale-like. Probably the most important modification will be a revised wing structure to move the landing gear in the scale location. But, as I said, I'm still working on the tail details (elevator linkage, to be precise), so I'm very far from even starting the wings.

As I mentioned earlier, here in Italy we don't have any P-47s on display. As far as I know there should be one at the Vigna di Valle museum (near Rome), but it is has not been available for display for a few years (always AFAIK). And even if it were it would be a 400km trip each way, so I'd have to be damn sure that I find what I need when I get there :)
That's why I bought some documentation and then searched the internet for any good photo that I could find. That's where, among all the others that I saved, I found a set of pictures about that thunderbolt that I posted ("Tallahassee Lassie" if I got the spelling right :) ). Honestly I don't remember where I found that picture, but if it was you who took it, then let me say thank you very much :D

Best regards,

Andrea