IMHO these could be either of the YZC or just silver/aluminium ( NMF). What colour would be applied in a squadron it depened on the unit methinks.
the source: P-40 – Inch High Guy
the source: P-40 – Inch High Guy
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Doesn't matter what colours they were painted, once retracted you never see the wheel covers, they are up against the inside of the wing upper skin.
Here we have some unadorned P-40Bs in the 20th PS, Wheeler field. The shade of the wheel covers is much lighter than the neutral gray cowling undersides. View attachment 659866
Sorry but the wheel cover isn't of the Neutral Gry colour. It is the light trick because of wrong colour balance and the bluish tinge for the film used. Also because of the sunlight that came from the top right ( left ) side. The enlarged pic reveals that the cover is more of the metalic/aluminium tone and it is not as bluish as the undersides.
View attachment 659870
I agree the axle and the wheel outer face are Neutral Gray. No wonder, these were seen when the landing gear was retracted. But the other sides were not painted because there was no reason to do that. Also please pay your attention to the cooling flaps and the pieces in the gaps. Also not painted.
View attachment 659873
Its just a wheel cover, only time it was seen is when aircraft has wheels down. I strongly doubt that in combat, the pilot or ground crew gave it a 10c thought. Now for the model junkies, it will have to be perfect.
The painting of the wheel covered achieved two things, dependent of the paintwork, 1: it would be obvious the wheels were turning when mobile and 2: looked nice. I wonder how many actually in combat completed their tour with the covers still on. A real pain for regular maintenance.