The Ship Model Forum

I am thinking of buying the following WW II 1/700 Trumpeter kits and am looking for info on them:

HMS York the disruptive scheme which the ship was painted when she was sunk looks a little difficult to paint. Does anyone know how the ship was painted at the start of the war?

HMS Columbo or Calcutta I am planning on buying one of them.

HMS Columbo a late war ship was it later painted in the RN late war scheme light grey with a blue panel?

HMS Calcutta I thick I have read where there is a lack of info on it's disruptive camo scheme when sunk any info how it was painted early in the war?

If any one has any more info on these ships and knows about a build article please let me know.

HMS York was painted in 1939 in an uniform grey (dark grey, 507A??)

HMS Calcutta was painted early in the war in a dark or medium grey, in 1940 with a white bow wave.
(photos included in the Profile Morskie about Calcutta)

HMS Colombo: it is possible that she got a light grey paint scheme with a dark panel - I not found found photos, only the description in Wright's book.

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Mal Wright's books are nothing but an expensive way of lighting a fire, he has no clue about actual camouflage colours and patterns. So many mistakes, assumptions and info that has been proved wrong by research from Admiralty records. I would not use his books (and don't) as a source of info.

Calcutta was in the Home fleet in 1939/40, so would have been Home Fleet Dark Grey (sometimes called 507A) with a white bow wave. Anyone saying Medium Grey is talking nonsense as there wasn't that colour at that point in time. As for York, if it was in the home fleet, it too would have been in Home Fleet Dark Grey. If it was stationed aboard, it would probably be in overall Light Grey (507C). See if you can find a photo of it at the time. The standard late RN scheme was G45 (Light Grey) with a B20 hull panel.

Unfortunately, Wright and Raven made the ONLY books available. Sovereign Hobbies produced some patterns, but only for a few ships.

If Wright is unreliable, then the same is true of Raven, because the patterns and colour names are mostly the same. According to Sovereign Hobbies' research, the colours are incorrect in both books. Compared to photos, both books contain errors regarding the patterns.

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Thanks for the info I will most like paint both ships HFG/507A with the Calcutta having a bow wave. The York was on the NA&WI station at the start of the war I would guess it would have been painted OSLY/507C at this time. The are pictures of the York on 3 March 1940 when it intercepted the German liner Arcuas which look like a dark grey.

The Culcutta had false waves at the bow, amidships and at the stern from photographic evidence

Partly the point about Raven and Wright is that some of the colours themselves have been proven incorrect by the research done for Sovereign Hobbies/Colourcoats paints. The reference used had suffered severely from aging: by using the stated pigment mixtures the original colours were recreated and made available in the revised Colourcoats range.

I have no comment about the patterns in the books, other than to respect Raven's work in the lack of any specific contradictions known to me.

Thanks for the info. If I can't find a picture of the Calcutta's bow waves I will leave the ship painted HFG/507A. In the early war period the wood decks would have been left un painted would the steel decks be HFG on both ships?