Dark-colored ETC501 racks?

[pstrany]

In researching the ETC501 rack used ion the Fw 190, I've noticed an odd thing. It seems that the fairing for the rack was frequently painted a dark color. In addition, it was not unusual to find that it had been so painted AFTER being installed on the aircraft (see pictures below.)

For those unfamiliar, the ETC501 rack was made up of a mount plate, the actual bomb rack itself being mounted on this. Additionally, there was a two-piece fairing on the rear of the rack. The entire affair was aerodynamically very sloppy, with gaps and all sorts of rough edges. Oddly, the mount itself was not parallel to the longitudinal axis, but rather was angled so that ordinance was carried in a sightly nose-down attitude.

The four scans below are all from the book " "Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in the Battle for Sicily", by Morten Jessen & Andrew Arthy (an excellent book.) The first image illustrates a factory fresh aircraft, and is the clearest example I can find of this practice. The other scans show aircraft in the field. Needless to say, it is difficult to find clear pictures of this practice, as this is an area of the aircraft normally in shadow, and difficult to photograph. While there are thousands of pictures of Fw 190s, I've yet to come across more than a dozen or so good photos of the ETC501.

From what I can tell, the fairing for the rack appears to have been painted after installation on the aircraft, as indicated by the careless overspray. Also, in most cases, the tail of the fairing is either missed, or incompletely painted. The color used appears to have been very dark, perhaps black or RLM 66?

While most common on the "G" model, I've detected possible examples in both the "F" and "A" family as well. I'm just curious if this has been noted before, and if anybody would have an idea why this was done.

By the by, this also appears to have been continued to the Dora as well, as most ETC504s appear to be a dark color as well.....


Paul