F4D-1 cockpit colors

I worked on an F4D-1 (a.k.a. F-6A) while attending an aircraft mechanics school in Denver. This particular aircraft is now on display at the Weisbrod Aircraft Museum in Pueblo, CO

With that said, I remember that the entire cockpit was semi-gloss black. I have also seen photos showing it to be dark gull gray with black main and side instrument panels and a black seat.

A cockpit detail often missed are two vertical metal bracing rods, one on each side of the interior of the canopy side window panels. If you sit in the cockpit, these rods are very prominent.

Another interesting feature of the Skyray cockpit is the extendable joystick. The control stick can be extended by pulling the grip up about 8 to 10 inches. This gave the pilot additional control leverage.

Martin

the cockpit was black, but if you paint it in black, you'll end with black hole instead of cockpit. my sugestion is to use some dark gray, or put some white in black. ad a little more drybrush, and that's it HTH, Slider

Just a note about the extendable joystick, the early A4's had the same feature. Maybe a Douglas backup to losing hydraulics?

Hmmnnn...sounds like another good one for Testors "Aircraft Interior Black", which is really more like a semi-gloss pencil lead sort of color. I used it in my Hunter cockpit, along with regular flat and gloss blacks to get a real nice effect.

Oh - and it makes a GREAT tire color, too...

Okay then, it's dark gull gray + a dark wash, some drybrushing and another dog in the yard to feed on the color police. Thanks for the replies, guys..

Ok, one more question.

What color is that big tube behind the pilots seat ?

Sorry I don't have the Ginter book. (Got one on the Cutlass tho :)

TIA

Allan