The Ship Model Forum

One of the best paint jobs in terms of matching. I have imagined it to look exactly the same so this is cool to see. If my 1/700 hood is 1/10th as good Ill be happy.

Hi,

In reference to a revised HFG; the answer is yes - a revised or new product is my intention.

There are some challenges still to be overcome. We know all the above but there are still more facts to collect to ensure the argument behind the resulting shade we manufacture is completely robust. e.g. precisely nobody has made a reasoned argument against the B5 colour to date which I am sure would have attracted criticism had there not been a justification presented at the same time which appears to have been accepted. We want the same level of justification to back up any new HFG but there are still details to be worked upon. Not on the 507A=507B=Home Fleet Grey aspect - we could prove that tomorrow, but as modellers the very next question would be "so what colour is it?" followed by differing opinions unless the argument for the proffered colour is concrete.

That fills in a few gaps I had - excellent info, thanks for posting! Do you plan to adjust your existing A/B paints at some stage, or even introduce a new one that will align better with WW2 Home Fleet Grey?

The non-slip range does indeed make perfect sense. I could clearly see the difference in shades when I was working on the KGV's catapult recently. Then after one of your earlier posts on this topic I switched the hull to something closer to the 507A on your site, I lost this contrast and couldn't see how to reconcile without going for an obviously too dark deck colour. The fact that I have adjusted the shade to a 1920s version of it explains a lot!

[quote="Martocticvs"]She looks splendid! Great job :)

Your photos also do a good job of showing off how wildly different that dark grey can look depending on lighting conditions, exposure etc.

Interesting to see you used both 507A and B - obviously in your range as it stands right now these are distinctly different shades, but from what you've said recently they really should be the same. Did you mix them to arrive at a more 'correct' shade of grey?[/quote]

Hi,

No this was started before I realised there was an issue. This model is actually the reason why I now own Colourcoats. I had purchased the kit from WEM and they went bust a few days later. I had contacted Dave Carter to ask about getting some Colourcoats and was put in touch with the liquidator. The rest just sort of happened after that... A bit like Peter Wheeler going in to get his TVR serviced and walked out having bought the company ...

The grey on the hull and weatherworks is all RN02 "507B". Even accounting for the fact that Home Fleet Grey was actually a touch darker, I think it has worked out ok.

The interesting thing however is that these Alan Raven derived schemes using 507A and 507B are close to correct but accidentally. As well as discovering more recently that there was just one Home Fleet Grey with different formulations and glossiness, I also found clear documented evidence that and entirely separate range of specialised non-slip deck paints was in use with the Royal Navy at the time. That probably doesn't sound so far fetched now with the benefit of hindsight.

The early war deck paints are described in June 1941 in a memo numbered 2533. It's an administrative memo advising the newly appointed supplier of said paint. it notes that:
[i]3. Non-slip paint is supplied in the following colours:- Dark Grey, Light Grey, Home Fleet Grey, Bronze Grey and Black, and requirements should be demanded by the Dockyards on Form D.273, under sub-head E, Item 7 (A.F.O. 2859/39)[/i]

Given strong photographic evidence that Home Fleet Grey ships exhibit a clearly darker shade on turret tops and steel decks, it seems plausible that in the absence of knowledge of the separate non-slip paint colours, people saw two greys and concluded that the darker one was 507A and the medium tone must be 507B. In a roundabout way using RN01 for the steel decks and RN02 for the vertical surfaces ends up being close to correct, but for the wrong reasons. I shall call this a happy accident. The Snyder & Short chip for 507A isn't necessarily in doubt by the way - but it's clearly labelled as being a 1920 sample. We have mapped out every documented record of a change to the Home Fleet Grey formula. It starts life shortly after WW1 as a very dark grey called 507A. In 1929 the Admiralty surveyed captains asking how often they repainted their ships (8 times per year was the average for a battleship, incidentally) and asked whether a higher quality paint could reduce this effort. The answer was affirmative and 507B replaced 507A in the Rate Books as Home Fleet Grey. The formula is adjusted through the 1930s getting proportionally less black content and proportionally more Egyptian Blue, then replacing that with the much stronger Ultramarine Blue - still called 507B and described as Home Fleet Grey. Then the war broke out and the Admiralty reintroduced the name 507A in 1939 to the same formula sans the enamel, then instructed the cessation of enamel use for war economies a little after that. The 507B formula disappeared and 507A is synonymous with Home Fleet Grey descriptions. 507B reappears again in 1947.

The deck paint colour palette seems to have been standardised in with the B & G series paints superseding everything else in spring 1943. At least, if I've seen anything specifically mentioning other colours of deck paint after this date, I have forgotten about it which is entirely possible!

She looks splendid! Great job :)

Your photos also do a good job of showing off how wildly different that dark grey can look depending on lighting conditions, exposure etc.

Interesting to see you used both 507A and B - obviously in your range as it stands right now these are distinctly different shades, but from what you've said recently they really should be the same. Did you mix them to arrive at a more 'correct' shade of grey?

Very nice looking build! :thumbs_up_1:

Thank you Thomas :) You are very kind!

Really nice build!!!!

Thank you all for your kind words :)


[quote="Silenoz"]I concur with the others... beautiful work. How did you solve the problem with the wires on the crane?[/quote]

To get around the crane problem I cut the PE cables away using a pair of nippers but leaving the pulleys in place. I then re-rigged it using Infini Model 110d rigging line. Due to the lack of stiffness in the boom it proved important to be careful to take the sag out of the rigging line without going on to stretch it, because the next stretched line would sag the one fitted before it. It wasn't difficult actually, but it needed a bit of care and patience. The evidence of the PE cables is still there, but I think it looks better than before so I'll put it down to experience and try not to screw that up next time!

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/jamie_duff/media/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170405_063313_zps14itp8zi.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/jamie_duff/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170405_063313_zps14itp8zi.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/jamie_duff/media/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170404_214546_zpswyxbhuz1.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/jamie_duff/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170404_214546_zpswyxbhuz1.jpg[/img][/url]

I've since coloured the crane rigging dark grey. The white was too stark. I could have used black, but that would have meant raiding more stock and I already had a white roll opened :)

I concur with the others... beautiful work. How did you solve the problem with the wires on the crane?

Very nicely done. Great rigging and awesome workmanship. A beauty!

Bill

A truly outstanding piece of modeling. A show stopper to be sure.

Beautiful work. The rigging is awesome. You should be proud.

A beautiful piece of workmanship. :thumbs_up_1:

I'm calling this one done now.

It's the now aging Trumpeter 1/350 kit #05302. The kit does need a bit of work but it's the only game in town for Britain's favourite warship and is therefore worth the effort. The turrets were replaced with Flyhawk HMS Hood Super Upgrade Set FH350099 which also came with range finders, UP launchers, blast bags and search light platforms. I started off detailing it with Flyhawk 350098 which whilst nice where it's nice, is also lacking in many ways in terms of the parts themselves. The instructions were poor by current standards. Happily White Ensign Models found a new owner before I got too far in so set PE3514 for HMS Hood was also used instead of Flyhawk in most areas, although the Flyhawk Pom Poms were nicer with turned barrels etc. The Vickers quad 0.5in guns on Hood were represented with 2-dimensional photo etching by both White Ensign and Flyhawk, and the plastic kit parts are vaguely shaped blobs. Happily, I met Park Yong-Joo who owns Tetra Modelworks at Telford last year and was so impressed with his little Vickers gun sets SA-35010 complete with turned barrels for the full 3-dimensional look that I left with some in my pocket as trade samples which are now fitted to Hood (I had to check the quality :smile:). The wooden deck is Pontos Model 35020WD1 which as usual comes with anchor chain and dry transfer draft markings. The rigging is all made from Infini Model Super Fine Black Lycra Rigging (40 denier - or 0.068mm diameter) with the exception of the main crane which I ruined the PE cables for and used the 110denier version of the Infini Line to re-rig instead. All paints are (I'd hope obviously!) Sovereign Hobbies Colourcoats enamels. The primary shades used are RN02 - 507B, RN19 - WW2 RN Anti-fouling red although this was heavily distressed for a weathered look rather than a builder's model, RN24 - Corticene, RN01 - 507A, C02 - Matt Black, C03 - Matt White.

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/jamie_duff/media/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_133616_zpscpyqkjlo.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/jamie_duff/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_133616_zpscpyqkjlo.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/jamie_duff/media/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_133638_zpsnmrkdr6r.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/jamie_duff/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_133638_zpsnmrkdr6r.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/jamie_duff/media/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_133723_zpslaad5nf2.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/jamie_duff/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_133723_zpslaad5nf2.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/jamie_duff/media/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_133744_zpsdddymhj5.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/jamie_duff/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_133744_zpsdddymhj5.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/jamie_duff/media/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_134925_zpsckw2ubjd.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/jamie_duff/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_134925_zpsckw2ubjd.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/jamie_duff/media/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_134946_zpsimwlqsi3.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/jamie_duff/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_134946_zpsimwlqsi3.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/jamie_duff/media/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_135002_zpsdz0liuj8.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/jamie_duff/HMS%20Hood%20350/20170408_135002_zpsdz0liuj8.jpg[/img][/url]

well done, nice Model

Truly nice build.

Impressive!

Love it. :big_grin:

Thanks Jabb :)

We will indeed see you there. :thumbs_up_1: