Martocticvs wrote:
Colour scheme for 1941 as far as I am aware would be all-over AP507B, with most horizontal surfaces in AP507A (turret tops certainly appear to be the darker shade). Whether the decks were stained/painted is still unclear to me.
If we're talking very early 1941, the above is still true, but this application of 507B suffered pretty extreme weathering and was peeling off in large patches, revealing remnants of the original AP507A/AP507C camo scheme, and that scheme itself had worn through in large areas revealing white primer underneath. This damaged paintwork seems to have been painted over pretty much the instant KGV returned from North America in early '41. If you're thinking specifically of May and the Bismarck incident, the condition of the paintwork then, as far as I've been able to tell, was pretty good - just some very minor wear around the waterline.
Do you refer to this scheme?
As it's becoming clear to increasing numbers of people from primary source material that 507B was the immediately pre-war high quality version of Home Fleet grey and that 507A was exactly the same paint reintroduced early in the war minus the enamel content for war economies, I think any source referring to 507B replacing 507A, or 507A and 507B comprising a scheme together must be treated with extreme caution now. It's possible some such model paint call-offs end up being more-or-less correct for the wrong reasons, but it's very apparent that the different tones of paint evident in black and white photographs have been misidentified, misunderstood and misinterpreted for a few decades now. The stern photo above shows 3 distinct shades.
What is safe to say however was that HMS King George V was painted Home Fleet grey whilst serving with the Home Fleet under Admiral Tovey.
The decks were painted with dark grey non-slip paint.