Except, by the spring of 1942, aircraft being delivered no longer came painted for specific squadrons as they did pre-war. The F4Fs which came to VF-3 at NAS Kaneohe came in dribs and drabs until the squadron came up to full strength shortly before going aboard Yorktown. The squadron did not have the "3-F-" on its side numbers as AirBatForPac had already decreed that there would be no squadron identifiers.
And, yes, I know that the TBFs from VT-8 detachment at Midway had "8-T-x" side numbers, but that was because they were shipped directly from San Diego after flying across country from Norfolk, where they fell under AirLantFor which had not yet made the change, and a day or so after arrival at Pearl flew on to Midway. Compare to the VT-8 TBDs aboard Hornet, no "8-" on their sides.
Bottom line, there were no "3-F-" markings to paint over.
Rich