WW2 ship colors

[redwolf28386]

I'm working on my first WW2 destroyer and was wondering if anyone knows of a color chart for WW2 ships? My main questions are; what shade of grey was used on the hulls and were the decks painted grey also? I've seen models with red decks and some with wooden sections but from BW photos of the ship I'm doing looks like it has a steel deck.Thanks!

[shawndymond]

Hi Redwolf

Which destroyer are you planning to model?

[redwolf28386]

The Polish minelayer Gryf...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORP_Gryf_(1944)

[CMDRTED]

I hate to say it depends, but it does. in general "minor navies" had some specific color schemes ie Italian, but usually if it was a wooden deck it was usually natural or stained wood color. you can't go wrong with whatever color wood you want to represent as it usually fades thru it's life. look at a patio deck. if it isn't wood it was usually a gray type paint, sometimes the hull color sometimes and usually a little darker. you can't go wrog with a faded slate gray color. specific navies had a spec paint and this was keyed to theatre of ops navy policies and time era. the us for example makes one crazy, deck gray, natural wood, stained wood nav blue etc and sometimes camo, same with rn and to an extant the ijn. the reds you see are probably the linoleum of the ijn. Gryf had natural wood and grey steel sections. look at our sister sites from poland. as this is one of their staple ships you should see dozens of examples of builds of her. Good luck.

[redwolf28386]

Thanks, I see lots of models with red decks but all the warships i've been on (in floating museums) had grey decks same as the hull when no wood was present. The model is just a can i do it? experiment but I want the colors as accurate as possible even though no one will probably even see it but me. Thanks for the info, when this one is done I plan to finish my USS United States I started back in '12.

[CMDRTED]

there is a web site finewaterline.com gydinia harbour 1939 that has great pics of model ships in the harbour. the gryf is among them. darker grey maindeck hull colored grey decks above the main deck...

[airdave]

There are a number of websites with colour/paint selections for WW2 Naval vessels.
A little searching will find them.

And many that sell colour charts and chips,
heres one:
US Navy #1

Wikipedia has a good page on Naval colours:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_W...ed_States_Navy

Decks are generally wood covered...not steel (as far as I know)
I don't see any use of red paint.

[redwolf28386]

Thanks! the finewaterline.com looks like it has a lot I tips I'll be checking out as well!

[lancer525]

Originally Posted by redwolf28386

Thanks, I see lots of models with red decks but all the warships i've been on (in floating museums) had grey decks same as the hull when no wood was present. The model is just a can i do it? experiment but I want the colors as accurate as possible even though no one will probably even see it but me. Thanks for the info, when this one is done I plan to finish my USS United States I started back in '12.

An old instructor of mine once said:

"Good enough is good enough, and perfect is a pain in the ass, usually not worth the trouble."

Having quoted him, my opinion is, whatever *you* think is good enough for you, is the right thing. Especially if no one else will ever see it. A good example: I am currently working on a very complex project, and have, in order to keep from confusing the bejeebers out of myself, decided to color-code parts of the test builds to keep everything straight. Nobody will care, since they are test builds, and who the hell ever saw a battleship with purple and pink decks anyway?

If you're ever going to enter a competition, then I would have meticulous documentation for everything I did, so the judges could see that you paid attention.

The main reason I would never enter a competition, (aside from the fact that I don't have the skills necessary) is because of Farbies. Those are the people who have never seemed to produce any project, but who still look down their nose and say "far be it from me to criticise, but your rivets are 1/10,000 of an inch too large, so your whole thing is trash. You should leave, because you clearly don't belong here. (I hate those people)...

I recall once, many years ago, when I attended a Civil War re-enactment (which used to be a very much loved hobby of mine. I quit doing it because of the Farbies.) I am allergic to wool, and almost every single uniform those people wore was wool, so it gave me huge problems, until I discovered a documented uniform for a Confederate naval officer, made from cotton and silk. Happy happy joy joy!

I gathered up all the appropriate documentation, and meticulously reproduced the thing down to the last detail, in exactly my size. Got to the re-enactment, and wasn't there fifteen minutes before some re-enactor Farby in a Union sergeant's uniform came up to me, and disdainfully sighed. "Far be it from me to criticise, but nobody made uniforms from cotton, as everyone knows. You are dishonoring the fine men who fought in this conflict we all are paying our respects to by being as accurate as possible. You really should leave, because morons like you clearly don't belong here."

Well. I almost punched the guy in the face, before being in character took over. I turned on him, and calmly asked "who is your commanding officer, sergeant?" He stammered a bit, (since I was ranked as a Lieutenant Commander) and pointed. I motioned for him to follow, and walked over to the Lieutenant he pointed out, greeted him, and stated in my best southern accent, "Lieutenant, I have an issue I would like to discuss with you regarding your subordinate here. Apparently, he is displeased with the quality of my dress, and since I won't lower myself to reprimand an enlisted man without speaking to his commander, I thought I should inform you that my father grew the very cotton that was spun into thread and woven into fabric by my sisters, and that very fabric was cut and sewn by my dear mother, so that I could serve my Navy in our noble cause. My parents knew at a young age that wool sickened me terribly, and so when I obtained my commission to serve, they sacrificed their time and talents to outfit me in a manner befitting a commissioned officer of the Navy. I do not appreciate your subordinate referring to an officer as a "moron" nor am I pleased with a mere sergeant questioning my honor. I require, Sir, that you reprimand him appropriately."

With that, I turned to the idiot in question, withdrew my gloves from my sash, and slapped him smartly across the face with them, saying "You have stained my honor, sergeant, and insulted my dear mother and my family. I demand satisfaction!" He turned about six shades of red, and was dressed down vigorously by the Lieutenant who reminded him of the other times he had done similar things to others. He ended up being forcibly removed from the event by the organizers, who had witnessed the whole thing.

Later on, over the meal to which I'd been invited, I shared my documentation with the others in that group, and they were suitably impressed that cotton really had been used in some Southern uniforms, and that there were even surviving examples. I was regaled with stories about the multiple people to whom that Farby had done similar things, people who had all left those events very upset because of him. The guy who was in charge of the event, was exceptionally pleased that someone had given the guy his comeuppance, and done so in character. The guy ruined it for me, and I eventually drifted out of the hobby.

The upshot of this story is that you only have to make yourself happy. You don't have to put up with criticism from anyone for your choices. Unless you're opening yourself up to the kind of scrutiny found in the world of competitions, and then you'd better be at the top of your game.