Primer colors US WWII

Paint Database

Bronze Green (FS-34052)
Zinc Chromate Yellow(FS33481)
US Interior Yellow Green(FS- FS 33481)
Dull Dark Green (FS34092)
Interior Green (Light Green FS34151)
Salmon Pink Primer (Beige Red)

Plane colors and camouflage . Primer US WWII   Interiors (1941-1954)

The topic of US wartime interiors is highly complicated and in many cases remains speculative to this day. This is because there was considerable leeway with respect to individual manufacturers using their own standards which means that even the same aircraft built in different factories could have different interior colors. For the most part, US aircraft used the same basic corrosion-resistant primer known as Zinc Chromate which also became the default color for exposed interior spaces. The name of this primer referred to the main pigment used rather than the color which was a bright yellow with a greenish hue, hence why it was also referred to as Yellow Zinc Chromate. The exact tone of YZC varied slightly between manufacturers and it was never assigned a number on any color system. A second color was created by adding black enamel to zinc chromate, producing what became known as Green Zinc Chromate (also called Tinted Zinc Chromate). This was used mostly on unexposed interior spaces, cockpits, as well as repainted parts that were previously covered only in YZC. Manufacturers often used different proportions of zinc chromate and black lamp in their mixes and as a result GZC varied even more in practice than YZC. Eventually, a standardized version of GZC was developed in late 1942 and became known as Interior Green (ANA 611 after the implementation of the ANA system on 28 September 1943). This was slightly darker and browner than the average GZC shade and later superseded by FS 34151 which was even browner still than the wartime shade. Notably, Grumman and Vought used proprietary primers in the early days of the war, known colloquially as Grumman Gray and Salmon Pink respectively.

There were no standardized requirements for painting exposed interior spaces but typical USN practice was for most carrier-based aircraft to have their landing gear spaces and components (wheel wells, covers, landing gear, and wheel hubs) painted in the same color as the lower fuselage, with the only notable exception being the S2BC Helldiver which painted them in GZC / IG. This, combined with the early use of proprietary primers by Grumman and Vought, meant that YZC was rare on exposed interiors of USN combat aircraft unlike those of the USAAF. Aside from that, all other structural spaces such as bomb bays and (non-cockpit) crew compartments were painted in GZC / IG, independent of the cockpit color. Post-war, practices for painting interiors continued to vary between aircraft although many still retained the wartime tradition of using the underside color for all landing gear spaces. This remained in place until 25 March 1954 (BuAer Instruction NAVAER 07.1) when major changes to interior colors were implemented and which are described below.

Paint guide:

Yellow Zinc Chromate: YZC is not well represented among traditional paint manufacturers although Tamiya’s XF-4 (Yellow Green) is a surprisingly accurate match that will displease nobody despite its generic labeling. Gunze has released both yellow and green versions of this primer in a box set (now available individually).
Green Zinc Chromate: Most paint ranges will not differentiate it with the slightly browner ANA 611 or give unspecific labels like ‘US Interior Green’ although for modeling purposes the difference should not be too problematic. AMMO by Mig’s A.MIG-202 commits the triple sin of labeling itself as GZC, ANA 611, and FS 34151 which it appears closest to. AK Real Colors (RC264) is labeled Interior Green Yellow which suggests a GZC rather than ANA 611 match; AK’s Air Series range, however, does include separate paints for each.
Interior Green ANA 611: This is the most common match to any paint labeled ‘US Interior Green’ or such. Gunze’s H58 / C27 is excellent and probably the gold standard of how this color should look. Paints that intend to match FS 34151 will look too brown for a correct wartime shade.
Grumman Gray: None of the paint ranges carry it but any match to ANA 620 / FS 36440 should be good enough. Grumman Gray primer was used on F4F Wildcats (all versions) and TBF-1 / 1C Avengers.
Salmon Pink: Only Mr. Paint (MRP-130) carries it. An acceptable substitute is Gunze’s H414 / C414 (RLM 23) which has a pinkish hue which is perhaps excessive for its intended German color but is a good approximation for the primer. Most generic ‘salmon pink’ paints are too bright and do not capture the primer color well. Salmon Pink primer was used on ‘birdcage’ F4U-1 and a few early F4U-1A Corsairs.

Cockpits US Army Air Force

US cockpit colors in World War II are the subject of much controversy and speculation. The earliest guidelines for cockpit colors were provided on September 9, 1938 (Specification No. 98-24113-A) which laid out the practice that would be common on many USAAF aircraft and which was based around two colors. The first was Green Zinc Chromate (described in the text as ‘Yellow Green’) which was to be applied on aircraft with open cockpits or with sliding enclosures such as fighters and other single-engined aircraft. The second color was Bronze Green No. 9 which was to be applied on aircraft with closed cockpits which are part of the fuselage such as bombers and other large multi-engined aircraft. This was introduced as early as November 1919 (US Army Specification No. 3-1) and is a very dark olive green which can be compared to a black-green, although like most cockpit colors it would look considerably lighter in practice.
An amendment to the specification was made on 6 September 1942 (Amendment No. 6). The guidelines retained Green Zinc Chromate for aircraft with open cockpits or with sliding enclosures. However, a new color known as Dull Dark Green (which had been introduced in USN service in April) replaced Bronze Green for aircraft with closed cockpits. There is considerable speculation regarding its exact color and it is generally believed to be a darker version of Medium Green No. 42/ANA 612/FS 34092 with more of a bluish hue. More problems arise from the fact that it looks vastly different on many aircraft, in some appearing as a turquoise-like blue-green. The color is much closer to that of actual aged bronze (think of old bronze artifacts and statues) which lends itself to even more confusion with Bronze Green. In late 1942, Green Zinc Chromate was standardized by the USN into the color that would be introduced on 28 September 1943 to the ANA palette as Interior Green ANA 611. This would thereafter become the de facto ‘Yellow Green’ as previously specified.
A final wartime revision of interior colors was issued on 6 April 1945 (Specification No. 98-24113-B) which had it that all cockpits and other enclosed areas (like turrets as well as bombardier and navigator stations) that were visible were to be painted Medium Green ANA 612 (which I personally suspect was intended to replace Dull Dark Green given its similarity). Areas of cockpits that were reflected in glass were to be painted in Black ANA 604. In practice this meant that the upper half of cockpits (usually from the level above the bottom of the instrument panel) were painted black. Just a few days before the end of the war, on 18 August 1945 an amendment to the previous specification formally established Interior Green ANA 611 as the replacement for ‘Yellow Green’. Given the winding down of aircraft production in 1945 it is likely that very few aircraft were ever painted with ANA 612 cockpits.
Unfortunately for the sake of consistency, not all USAAF manufacturers followed the basic guidelines and in many cases created their own proprietary cockpit colors. For example, Curtiss Cockpit Green was developed by local paint vendors and is believed to be a more heavily tinted version of GZC which appeared slightly brown. Northrop Cockpit Green was another such shade, believed to be closer to the typical version of GZC. Early P-38s used Olive Drab cockpits. Finally, there is also some confusion over the colors used by Republic which are thought to be approximations of Bronze Green and (later) Dull Dark Green. Bell Green was a similar dark color, believed to be close to Medium Green. It was common for USAAF aircraft to be built in more than one factory which means more than one cockpit color could have been used.
A summary of the suspected main cockpit colors used on major USAAF aircraft is as follows. All post-war aircraft used Interior Green and Black or overall Black cockpits:
P-38 Lightning: Olive Drab (P-38E, F-4), Green Zinc Chromate/Interior Green (P-38F and later)
P-39 Airacobra: Bell Green (All versions)
P-40 Warhawk: Curtiss Cockpit Green (All versions)
P-47 Thunderbolt: Republic Bronze Green (P-47C, Razorback P-47D); Republic Dull Dark Green (Bubbletop P-47D/M/N)
P-51 Mustang: DuPont Gray Green 71-036 (P-51A), Dull Dark Green (P-51B), Interior Green (P-51D), Interior Green and Black (late P-51D/H)
P-61 Black Widow: Northrop Cockpit Green (All versions)
A-20 Havoc: Green Zinc Chromate/Interior Green (? color appears browner than usual)
A-26 Invader: Interior Green (?)
B-17 Flying Fortress: Bronze Green (B-17E and earlier); Dull Dark Green (B-17F/G)
B-24 Liberator: Bronze Green (B-24D); Dull Dark Green (B-24E and later)
B-25 Mitchell: Bronze Green (B-25B/C/D); Dull Dark Green (B-25G and later)
B-26 Marauder: Green Zinc Chromate/Interior Green (?)
B-29 Superfortress: Dull Dark Green (All wartime versions)
Unlike exterior camouflage, vintage wartime-era color photos of cockpits are a rarity, which makes the problem of approxima