GrahamB wrote:
Hello,
is anyone aware of photographic evidence for HMS Rodney's Flotta scheme (green/brown/507C) worn for a period in 1940?
I have the Shipcraft and Man O' War books but cannot see any photos here that would match. Rodney's scheme in 1940, presumably after the Flotta scheme was painted out is, itself, somewhat mysterious, appearing quite pale with darker paint on the counter-shaded 16" barrels. I assume the latter was 507A and the rest possibly an emergency mix of 507A and 507C. I have similar issues still with the proposed overall 507A 1941 scheme for HMS Hood.
Cheers,
GrahamB
Graham,
Do you mean the dark paint on top of the 16" barrels as shown here?
If so that is significantly darker than 507A ever was, and I think this is a calibration issue you have here both for HMS Rodney and other ships of the Home Fleet - 507A was simply not as dark as portrayed from the 1990s to 2018. The barrel tops are closer in tone to the darkened decks which look near-black, which would be in keeping with the guidance given in Home Fleet Temporary Memorandum 288 dated 20th August 1940 that:
"3. The decks of all ships, cruisers and above, are to be of a dark colour. For wooden decks an approximate mixture of
Japan Black 6 parts
Turpentine 1 part
Liquid Dryers 6 parts
applied to a dry deck gives good results.
4. The tops of gun barrels and other horizontal surfaces are to be painted to tone with the decks, using the non-slip deck paint referred to in C.A.F.O. 1446/40. When dazzle painting is adopted these flat surfaces should be included in the colour scheme."
A 13% RF grey is drastically lighter than recent portrayals of 507A show, yet still much darker than the ficticious "507B Medium Grey". One cannot judge paint chips on white background card against the same paint in real life context.
I've had a lot of milage out of this picture below now - it's our NARN20 - the 13%RF Home Fleet Grey. I wanted to show how it really looked in a life environment to communicate to Richard above back in 2017 I think so I very roughly sprayed some onto scrap MDF board above a black band at the bottom to give a familiar reference like a boot topping. The numbers work. 10% to 13% RF just looks right - because it
is right.
In before the "b-b-b-but scale fade" experten apply try to enlighten me with pseudoscience, it works on a model too. This is 13% RF Home Fleet Grey (my NARN20) on Nick Charnock's 1/350 HMS Hood.