The Ship Model Forum

A bit of history, based on what I've found in the Archives. By 1944, stocks of Ultramarine blue pigment were getting short and expensive, and the Navy started a program to decrease its use. They had learned by that time that it wasn't the color that mattered in camouflage as much as tone - light against dark will stand out regardless of color, and vice versa. So, it was decided to reformulate and go with neutral paints.

I don't have all of the documentation yet, but the [url=http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Ships/S19-7/1945_S19_631.html]February 1945 instructions for Carriers, Cruisers, Destroyers, and Destroyer Escorts[/url] references a late November document in Paragraph 5 that indicates that they were working on changing formulas at least three months in advance of the actual order for fleets to begin using the new colors. We had thought that this was about when the new colors started appearing, but recent finds indicate that the "official" paint manufacturing yards at Mare Island and Norfolk had switched to production of the new paints by the end of December, 1944, at least as far as [url=http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Ships/S19-7/1945-1-3UltramarineBlue.html]this memo to a private paint manufacturing company indicates[/url]. I've been wanting to try and track the "movement" of neutral paints throughout the fleet so we could come up with some rough rules for which ships and when, etc., but I don't know how possible that will be.

[quote="Cliffy B"]

For future reference, Modern USN colors:
Haze Gray = FS 26270 = MM Neutral Gray (FS 36270)
Deck Gray = FS 36118 = MM Gunship Gray (FS 36118)
"Flight Deck Gray" = FS 36076 = MM Engine Gray (FS 36076)

Flight Deck Gray seems to match the color of fresh to fresh-ish non-skid which is darker than normal Deck Gray.[/quote]

Which is also in the sticky "Modern USN colors" in case he loses this thread!

Testor's in their Model Master line just released all the USN WWII Camo colors in enamel and acrylics. Their old Pollyscale line used to have them but that's been discontinued I believe. The new MM colors seem to match the old PS colors, at least to my eyes, which were dead on accurate, again at least to me. Besides I don't remember hearing complaints or arguments about their accuracy.

For future reference, Modern USN colors:
Haze Gray = FS 26270 = MM Neutral Gray (FS 36270)
Deck Gray = FS 36118 = MM Gunship Gray (FS 36118)
"Flight Deck Gray" = FS 36076 = MM Engine Gray (FS 36076)

Flight Deck Gray seems to match the color of fresh to fresh-ish non-skid which is darker than normal Deck Gray.

Ah, thanks. that's what I am afraid of. Is there a known match for WWII haze? I notice tamiya's Haze gray has a blue tint to it. Is the tamiya color a decent match for either modern or WWII haze? Tamiya recommends it for their modernized New Jersey kit, but that might just be because tamiya is confused, or has nothing better in their line.

Nope! WWII Haze was Ultramarine Blue mixed with black to a uniform "tint base" and then various amounts of white were added to get all the various Grays.

However at the end of the war when the blue pigments were getting scarce they shifted to the "neutral grays" which I "believe" were just black and white. I can't attest to that shade of Haze VS Modern Haze though. Anyone?

Modern Haze is black and white only. FS 26270 is a direct match for the current color. Its what our cans of Sherwin-Williams say on the [i]Wisky[/i] too :thumbs_up_1:

Is the modern USN haze gray the same or very similar to WWII haze gray used on the top half of measure 22 camouflage?