Wow, I really need to remember to log in a bit more often. It’s been a little while hasn’t it?
For the record, we (
Hood Association) stand by Jamie and the team’s work. I’ve seen the Kew and Pompey docs myself and they’ve gone well beyond that. Indeed, it’s quite clear from their extremely in-depth research that they’ve come up with something definitive that we can all safely rely upon. They really went above and beyond.
So, the old “medium grey” thing is simply wrong.
The person who originally researched our paint colours 30+ years ago recorded it as AP507B. Later, when the S&S’s paint chips came out, we put two and two together and, well, lots of people painted their
Hoods a bit light as a result! It’s not the end of the world of course, but I do feel a badly about it. I wish it was just a conspiracy to get people to buy and build more
Hood models, but no, it was an honest mistake...we’re only human after all.
So, we’ve tried to update our painting instructions accordingly.
Of course, to be perfectly honest, these days I’m less concerned about exact shades of colour...my rivet counting days are behind me. I’m simply happy to see people build models of
Hood...even if they’re ones of dubious accuracy such as Heller and Lindberg, or, an over-priced disappointment such as the Trumpeter 1/200 “step-back”
Hood (so-called because they used dates plans and “undid” various things they had previously gotten right...). That’s just me though, others will have a different take on the matter. That’s not to say that we still won’t try to present accurate info on our website though (obviously we want our materials to be accurate).
Well, actually there IS one thing that I still get riled up about: why on earth do so many modelers continue to mount their “as sunk”
Hoods’ forward Carley Floats in pairs just behind the conning tower? That is sooooo 1940! Oh yeah, also don’t get me started on the 1941 aerial spreader!