Since finishing up the RAF GB, I've devoted attention to both Coral Sea and Midway builds. For Coral Sea, made some progress on the Devastator cockpit.
Ran across this from Dana Bell while doing research:
"The first TBDs reached the fleet (in the form of VT-3) In November 1937. (The last would be delivered in November 1939.) On 13 January 1938, Torpedo Three complained about considerable glare from reflected light inside the cockpits and asked permission to apply flat black to reduce the reflections. On 7 February, BuAer asked Commander Aircraft, Battle Force if this was a widespread problem, applicable to other aircraft, or if it was limited to the TBD. The response (on 18 February) from ComAirBatFor noted that the problem was widespread and should be addressed for all naval airplanes.
In 16 April, BuAer sent color cards of the Armys Bronze Green and Flat Black colors and asked for a fleet test. The report came from NAS San Diego on 3 October. I mis-remembered the details here, but FOUR TBDs were painted (with no BuNos provided). Two aircraft had Flat Black all the way down to the rudder pedals, one had black applied to the inside of the enclosure and the flat surfaces immediately thereunder. The Bronze Green aircraft was a similarly painted partial cockpit. The Bronze Green was reported as a mix of P-27b primer [zinc chromate] and drop black to produce the "proper shade" - note that these pigments cannot produce a true Bronze Green. The aircraft were delivered to VT-3 with a request that the unit report on the effectiveness of the scheme.
Ive misplaced the VT-3 reply - theres still a heap of filing to do around here - but on 27 March 1939, BuAer noted that there had been considerable correspondence on cockpit colors. Bronze Green was chosen at that date for all new cockpits. Existing aircraft could be repainted at the discretion of the personnel concerned. During major overhauls, all cockpits were to be repainted.
Thats where my guess that the TBDs were probably repainted before June 1942 came in. First, San Diego (where they would all be based by the time the war broke out) knew the fleet wanted the change made. And if the changes werent made immediately, they certainly would have occurred during any overhaul during the next three years. While I am assuming that San Diego continued to mix darkened primer for the Devastators, they might have actually applied true Bronze Green to some aircraft - its just that Ive never seen any evidence that that occurred."
Source: http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1327561686/TBD-1+Interior+Colors
Since I'd already painted the cockpit part with Interior Green, I repainted them with Bronze Green.
Added seat belts from masking tape, and painted the ends gold to represent buckles.
Airfix didn't include a decal for the instrument panel. Eduard made a PE set, but it's out of production, so I printed up the IP instruments on paper and glued them on.
None of this is going to show up much under the "clear" canopy in the kit. It's pretty thick, distorted and shows its age.
I used some weathering powders inside the fuselage to break up the color a little. After I applied the flat coat, the shading pretty much disappeared.
Also added the little observation windows in the foreward area.