The Ship Model Forum

Tracy White's earlier comment about memorial ships is generally true. There is one valid exception and one possible exception. The USS TEXAS is painted overall blue which appears to me to be close to 5-N Navy Blue. I cannot state with certainty that the TEXAS's color is correct. However, I do know that the USS NORTH CAROLINA is painted in MS 32 colors that match the official USN paints in World War 2. The Battleship NORTH CAROLINA Commission made the decision a number of years to paint the battleship in her WW2 colors. They knew what paints were needed and contracted with DuPont to make the colors needed. Based on on their work, the "Showboat" looks like her appearance in the fall of 1944 and she is one gorgeous ship.

Colourcoats M03,4,5 cover modern US Navy Haze Gray, deck gray and flight deck gray, as matched by John Snyder of Snyder & Short.

As Tracy notes, all modern museum carriers are painted in an overall haze grey that came around after the war, so Sutho's suggestion wouldn't apply unless you're wanting to do a wartime paint scheme.

The battleships are tougher, because while some are painted in overall haze grey (like the Iowas and South Dakotas), others have been painted to replicate their wartime colours, like Texas (overall Navy Blue as part of the MS 21 scheme noted by Sutho) or North Carolina (dazzle scheme of MS 32, using three different colours for the vertical surfaces). None of them are painted in the MS 22 scheme in the model of the California you posted, however.

Most museum ships do not use accurate colors for World War Two. CV-10 Yorktown is in a post-war fit and is painted in the post war haze gray (I'm actually not sure if they have access to surplus USN paint or are using a commercial equivalent) . If you're wanting to paint your models the same way that the museum ships currently are, any of the fairly close matches to the modern Haze Gray (Model Masters has "Neutral gray FS 36270" but not as a rattle can, it appears). Most people have settled on Gunship Gray FS 36118 as a good metal deck equivalent, and they do have that in rattle can.

This website has information for all US Navy WWII ships so you might want to take a look here.

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/usn_cv.htm

For Essex in MS21 - http://www.shipcamouflage.com/measure_21.htm

Then look at hobby supply stores that supply realistic paints that represent colours used by the USN.

Avoid the standard hobby paints that are just for amateurs not interested in realism if you want a accurate look. Those paints are only good for people just wanting to have fun.

I am trying to finish my Dragon 1/700th scale USS Essex CV-9 aircraft carrier but I do not know what paint to use on it. Also I am thinking about making it a model of the USS Yorktown CV-10 aircraft carrier. I was told that the Dragon model of the Essex is more like the Yorktown and the Essex. I am wanting to paint the carrier in paint colors that is used on aircraft carriers that are now museum ships. Also I recently bought the Trumpeter 1/700th scale model of the USS Tennessee BB-43 from 1944 but I am wanting to paint it in color that are used on the US battleships are are museum ships. What colors do I need to use to get the correct look? I am planning on using spray paint if the paint color is available in spray can. I have attached pictures of the paint colors I am looking for. I found these pictures on the internet and are not mine.
[img]http://www.motionmodels.com/ships/bb/bb44-7.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.motionmodels.com/ships/cv/cva12-3.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.motionmodels.com/ships/cv/cva12-8.jpg[/img]

[b][size=150]Ryan[/size] [/b]