The Ship Model Forum

There's no international standard for paint names, so two different companies can name something "neutral gray" and have completely different shades and colors.

[quote="Tracy White"][size=200]FS NUMBERS ARE NOT APPLICABLE TO WWII PAINTS[/size]

The FS system came about AFTER these paints were out of circulation, so the FS numbers you give above are what someone has determined to be the CLOSEST that is available. They are not exact matches.

I blame Squadron/Signal for causing this confusion.[/quote]
light grey1+neutral grey2 im confused

One more quesion if anyone can help, do we know when she received her Measure 22 scheme?
Was it when she was in San Fransisco in December '44 while having the final fit out ready to sail west to Pearl Harbour?

Ok, thanks for your advice :thumbs_up_1:

It would look the same when fresh, but would wear a little differently.

The Navy originally tried stains on decks, but determined the stain penetrated too deeply into the wood to be quickly removed once the war was over, and switched to paint. This was in 1941, well before Missouri's time.

Oh dear, I abandoned enamels years ago and only touch acrylics. But it looks like it has to be WEM colours for my BB63 in Measure 22.

I presume we need WEM refs: US28 for Haze Grey, US08 for Navy Blue, and US10 for Deck Blue.

I wonder how many of their little tins would be needed to cover a 1:350 Iowa class BB ?

One question; does anyone know if the Deck Blue would appear exactly the same when applied on wooden deck planks as on steel deck plates? I read somewhere that a different paint type was used to make the paint on wooden decks temporary to be scrubbed off after combat had ceased, so could it perhaps appear different?

Not yet, but Randy Short of ShipCamouflage is working towards selling some re-mixed and matched MM acryllics in USN WWII colors.

I too have had difficulty finding WWII paints. Thank you guys for pointing me in the right direction. One question: So is there ANY acrylic alternative out there for WWII paints?

Ship modelers aren't the only ones... we've learned a lot about colors in the last decade or so.

Sorry, I feel compelled to chime in. ANYTHING with an FS number WILL NOT match true WWII colors Period, end of discussion.
I researched almost a year and Tracy is right. Believe me, ship modelers wish it were otherwise, but it just isn't.

[size=200]FS NUMBERS ARE NOT APPLICABLE TO WWII PAINTS[/size]

The FS system came about AFTER these paints were out of circulation, so the FS numbers you give above are what someone has determined to be the CLOSEST that is available. They are not exact matches.

I blame Squadron/Signal for causing this confusion.

I have been doing a lot of research, and from what I have seen, I ended up searching by the FS number. So this is what I got according to what I see in a model paint conversion chart I downloaded.

[b]DECK BLUE (FS36081)[/b]
Testors=Euro I Gray (FS36081) spray can#1988
Mr Colour=Dark Grey (FS36081) US NAVY 20B Revised Deck Blue
PollyScale=Grimy Black (FS36081) and Panzer Dark Gray (FS36081)

It appears that there is several names for this color.

[b]HAZE GREY (FS36270)[/b]
It is a tougher one to know because it seems to have 2 different sheens but this one seems to be the right one.

Testors=Neutral gray (FS36270)
Testors Model master acrylic=Neutral gray #4757 (FS36270)
Xtracolor=RAF Medium Sea Grey BS637 or 1003 (FS36270)
aka Medium Sea Grey
White Ensign/Mr Colour=Medium Sea Grey (BS637)/Mid grey (FS36270) AC RN 04

[b]NAVY BLUE (FS15042) AKA 5-N[/b]

PollyScale=Navy Blue US Navy 5-N (FS15042)
Testors=Neutral Gray 1725 bottle or
Testors Model Master acrylic=Neutral Gray 4757 bottle
Testors model master=Dark Sea Blue 1717 bottle and spray can 1917
Testors Model Master acrylic=Dark Sea Blue 4686

So by my estimation, I think I can get:
Testors Dark Sea Blue 1717/1917
Testors Neutral Gray
Testors Modelmaster Euro Gray I 1988spray/4750bottle

So maybe I can use Testors paints without having to search for the it with another brand?... Am I correct in this color choices? thanks.

You can also try http://www.warshiphobbies.com/

Another wrinkle: the Pollyscale line is being discontinued.

WEM Deck blue has been out due to production problems for a couple of months. Randy from ShipCamouflage may have mixing ratios for you, and he also sells [url=http://www.shipcamouflage.com/us_navy1.htm]paint chips[/url] so you can mix & match your own.

Snyder & Shorts Enterprises does:
http://www.shipcamouflage.com/colourcoats.htm

However, I heard that the stock of 20b (Deck Blue) is running low or out (both retailers and at WEM), so it might be a while before that will be instock.

Ok so White Ensin paint is what I should be looking for..

Is there any USA dealers that sell this paint?

Then definitely go for Colorcoats - familiar old enamels and the most accurate paints on the market, so you don't have to worry about what's "good enough".

I dont mind getting acrylic paint. I just mentioned enamel simply because its something I have used in the past, but I am open to just about any type of paint that is durable, long lasting and fairly accurate. I am mostly building these for fun, and am wanting to make em more for pounding around on the pool/lake in a RC conversion. Just trying to figure out some paint "close" to what the colors should be... thanks.

Dear Jacob,

Don't bother with the Badger colours. They don't look anything like what they are pretending to be. Navy Blue and Deck Blue are both extremely dark and intense blues with a very distinct greenish cast to them, more like an artist's prussian blue. The Haze Gray again has a green cast to it. It looks as though it would make a pretty good RLM grau 02 for the Luftwaffe guys, but it isn't a purplish Haze Gray.

Kind regards,

David Griffith

If you prefer enamels, then you have it easy - WEM (White Ensign Models) produce a line of authentically-matched enamel paints in their Colorcoats line. Their website can be accessed from the front page.

Note that asides from Colorcoats, PollyScale, and the now non-unavailable Model Masters Marine Acryls, none of the other paints labeled "Haze Grey" or "Navy Blue" are actually meant to reflect the actual colour used on WWII USN vessels. Even with the PollyScale line of acrylics, their matches aren't as accurate as Colorcoats. However, Pollyscale is the only remaining acrylic (some exceptions - Badger makes a line, but unsure how they compare) that has WWII USN colours.