Calling all Essex-class (WWII configuration) fans

[keith hufnagel]

Actually 1944 was a very busy year for painting Yorktown CV-10 in that she carried (3) paint jobs.(kind of) From Jan. 44' to May 44' she did wear Ms.21 but her flight deck coloration is still a little unclear. Proceeding to the Pacific (with air group 5)it is thought she had a light stained flight deck with black dashes, numerals, centerline and thin red c/l stripe through the bow elevator forward. Her bow numeral also appears to have been inverted.(faced foward) In May 44' either at Pearl Harbor or Majuro she was painted into 33-10a with a supposedly 5-L as the lightest color and the forward numeral turned same as the stern numeral. Photos I've seen seem to indicate she may have had the lighter flightdeck stain applied also with white (or light grey) lines and dashes. Next during her Fall 44' refit (Sept./ Oct.) she again had Ms. 33-10a applied with apparently 5-P as the lightest color, the darker flight deck stain, and a different set of white(or light grey) lines and dashes with black numerals. My comparison of Yorktown's first 33-10a pattern and second show minor differences in shapes generally due to recent modifications and simlpe artist license. There are many great photos of Yorktown in this configuation. Unfortunately this is all I have been able to learn on this fascinating subject. However the Yorktown's paint history in 1945 gets even more cryptic. Hope this helps. Have fun modeling!

[USN_Matt]

BTW Keith I saw your model of the Yorktown, very impressive! Makes me jelous... I do all my painting by hand, so yeah, not all as straight as can be!

I'm using Ocean Grey 5-O, Light Grey 5-L, and Navy Greay 5-N for the vertical surfaces for mine. Was underneath the flight deck painted with the Light Grey or was it in Flate White? I have seen either or on other peoples work.

[MM2CVS9]

Interesting; that's during her shakedown cruise, and other photos from the same cruise don't show that.

Here's another shot of CV10 showing inverted forward flight deck numbers, from a private collection.



Ask and you shall recieve.

EJ

[Mark McKinnis]

BTW Keith I saw your model of the Yorktown, very impressive! Makes me jelous... I do all my painting by hand, so yeah, not all as straight as can be!

I'm using Ocean Grey 5-O, Light Grey 5-L, and Navy Greay 5-N for the vertical surfaces for mine. Was underneath the flight deck painted with the Light Grey or was it in Flate White? I have seen either or on other peoples work.

I used to have the same problem painting the splinter camo schemes by hand. I solved it by using a straight edge and/or a french curve to scribe a line on the hull to make a nice line to paint along. Use a fresh blade in your knife and sribe it deep enough so the paint will pool along the line. When you are done it will look as if you taped it off without pulling your paint off with the tape and ruining the look.

Here is my Yorktown in MS-33/10a:

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

Good luck,
MM

[USN_Matt]

Thats actually a good idea to try on my next project! thanks for the tip!

looks good BTW. I should find a site to post pics of all the models I built xD

*edit*

Also with the underside of the flight deck I just painted it Light Grey. Thats what I mainly see with the Yorktown.

[John Snyder]

If you are referring to the underside of the flight deck, that was painted white for countershading. All overhanging surfaces were painted white, and the white was also carried down onto the adjacent bulkheads for a few inches. This was done to reduce shadows. The specific instructions were:

"Undersides of all hanging surfaces should be painted with white. The white should be brought down from the top of the bulkhead approximately one-third the amount of the overhang."

[Russ2146]

Many people seem to have difficulty picturing exterior overheads of warships being painted white. I suppose that's due to the undersides showong up in pictures. To that end, I offer the following

[Timmy C]

As Tracy posted elsewhere, just because the instructions said to countershade, it doesn't mean that it was always done. See this photo of CV-12, for instance:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/021291a.jpg

Notice the very top level - you can see the 5-O/5-L demarcation on the underside.

[Cliffy B]

Wasn't counter shading discontinued at some point half way through the war?

[keith hufnagel]

Yes painting dazzle patterns has always been intimidating. However, I have found the best (and easiest) way to tackle it was to use Drafting Tape and an airbrush. I say 'drafting' tape because it's adhesive is not as brutal as 'masking' tape yet it really avoids bleeding. It is cheap and a roll will last a lifetime. You can find it at any office supply store. Another interesting way to do the patterns was to buy clear decal film and spary an entire sheet of each color. Then cut shapes and apply them like decals. This was extremely handy especially for horizontal (deck) and multi level surfaces. Walthers solvaset will draw them right down to were you cannot see any lines. Trust me it really, really works. Have fun modeling! Keith

[Sleepwalker]

Was this white (5-U) pure white or off white - something like in case or RN which was a bit yellowish? I don't believe that countershading was discontinued. Some measures didn't use it (probably overhang undersides only) but for some others it was essential to hide ship's silhouette details.

[John Snyder]

5-U was a pure white (use Colourcoats C 03). Countershading was only used with the "dazzle" patterns, and was largely discontinued in 1945.

[Tracy White]

Some ships carrier Dazzle past the point that dazzle schemes were ordered discontinued and painted over (CV-12 Hornet comes to mind, which was still wearing a very worn and beaten Measure 33 3a in June of 1945), but the records to discontinue dazzle and countershading started in late 1944. The earliest I can remember specifically for countershading on carriers is December 22, but there's one for other ship types dated December 20 and hints in this December 3rd speedletter.

[USN_Matt]

thanks for all the tips everyone! Also alot of excellent information.

I also found a few pictures of the Yorktown's island is that the dazzle scheme was carried underneath the overhangs, while underneath the flight deck was painted in white, most likely 5-U, but since i couldn't find 5-U I just used Flate white.

[Tracy White]

The "U" in 5-U stands for "untinted" and was just a white base, so flat white would be just fine.

[Sr. Gopher]

My head always hurts when I look at that thread. Too many detailed builds at once!!!!!!

[USN_Matt]

Finally! My Yorktown is finished!! I'll have to post pictures up later of her.

[EJM]

What were the insides of the hangars painted? Floors, walls, ceiling, etc. Was it just standard grays or something else? I only use Testor or Tamiya paints, so what colors would be good from either of those brands?

[ArizonaBB39]

What were the insides of the hangars painted? Floors, walls, ceiling, etc. Was it just standard grays or something else? I only use Testor or Tamiya paints, so what colors would be good from either of those brands?

Floors were normally a dark grey or deck blue and the walls/ceiling were normally white, if I remember correctly.

[MartinJQuinn]

What ship is this?

http://www.uss-bennington.org/pics/phz- ... -18-01.jpg

It's from a website dedicated to CV-20, but the camo doesn't seem to match the pattern worn by Bennington.