GrahamB wrote:
"With that in mind, and in the absence of having thus far personally encountered a document detailing an experimental or trial scheme on HMS Hood, I would have to hold the belief that the photograph above is HMS Hood in the process of being painted in Home Fleet Grey"
Surely this is dogma/authority obliterating your perception and powers of logic? How is it possible for the colour being painted above the degaussing strip, and present elsewhere at the same level, is so much lighter the the underlying paint that can still be seen? The tone of the funnels and other works above the strip is distinctly darker in tone but matches the main hull colour being repainted - also paler than the messy underlying coat, and possibly still too light to be 507A/B?
My powers of logic are working fine, thank you.
Firstly, there are extant pieces of correspondence which remark in passing that HFG tended to darken in situ (the context being a private musing that the paint should be made a touch lighter so that it naturally darkened to the intended colour - but there is no evidence that this was heeded and indeed the pigmentation formulae remain consistent before and after which rather strongly suggests that it was not acted upon).
Secondly, having made many samples now of Admiralty Pattern 507 equivalents using pigments and linseed oil as per the original formulae, I can state that they all have long drying times (a couple of days - so are almost certainly wet for most of the hull visible in shot) and all have shown a marked shift in tone from lighter to darker from initial application to fully dried. Obviously, when wet it's also very glossy.
Thirdly, that's a black and white photograph providing zero colour information. It's just as possible that the slightly darker patchy area being painted over is red lead primer (which may or may not be darkened with black to make it less conspicuous) as it is to be intentionally darker grey topcoat paint.
I chose my words carefully. I did not deny the possibility of it being an experimental medium grey in the process of being applied, but in the absence of anything to document such it strikes me as rather fanciful to claim this B&W photo is evidence of such. The only photographs which do strongly suggest some informal experimentation on Hood prior to her repaint before being sunk are those showing B and X turrets in lighter and darker tones than the rest of the ship respectively. I, personally and representing my business, could not with a straight face make a recommendation that someone paint their model Hood in a medium grey rather than HFG on the basis of this one photograph.
On the contrary, I'd suggest that anyone suggesting that it does prove the use of a medium grey is somewhat out on a limb and the burden of proof is on them. There are variables which I have outlined above which such a claimant cannot adequately disprove, and any such claim is in contradiction of extant written documentation such as standing orders/memos etc giving the Admiralty's official line which
are known about. By all means though, if you do find something in a diary from a crew member or dockyard hand etc which describes mixing up an intermediate grey for Hood we'd all benefit from seeing it.
Who knows what information is hidden away in cupboards and thrown out when people pass away?