Corsair main fuel tank issues?

[Maxrobot1]

From photos, it appears that the main self-sealing fuel tank bladder in F4U Corsairs must had had issues.
Quite a few of them have white tape over the seams around the tank in front of the pilot. Were the panels hard to remove - or easily damaged, making them difficult to fit back properly?
Were ground crew constantly removing and replacing panels?

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[ThomasP]

I do not know, but I suspect it had to do with the armour/deflection plate fitted there. I do not know when they started fitting the deflection plate(s?). I believe they were at least 3/16" thick which is considerably thicker than the original 1/16"(?) skin used there. Maybe the tape was used to smooth the airflow over the disparate thicknesses at the seam? Or to help seal the gap caused by poor fitting deflection plates? See below:

 

[Wurger]

It seems that the reason for the sealing tape there was the fuel spillover during the refueling that went into the engine compartment. Its fumes could get fire when the engine was started. Also these could be blown back into the cockpit.

According to Dana Bell ...

the pic source: HyperScale Forums-Calling F4U Corsair experts....pics of my dilemma inside.

 

[special ed]

I read in someone's book that fuel seepage blew back onto the canopy. That's why no two corsairs have exactly the same taping. Barrett would know for certain.

 

[CD Baumann]

Supposedly it was to seal the panels to prevent fuel droplets from spattering on the windshield. But that panel was made of dural which acted as armor. My guess is that the panel wasn't entirely flush with the rest of the airframe or ground crew had a habit of overfilling the tank.