SovereignHobbies wrote:
507B and 507A were exactly the same thing, with or without gloss enamel varnish added to the mix. They were both simply "Home Fleet Grey".
507B was slightly glossier in appearance and in some lights may appear slightly lighter or darker than the matt finished 507A. There was a degree of latitude in the tone of Home Fleet Grey (3% difference in Light Reflectance Value to be specific) and the dockyards and ships had their own mixes to get to Home Fleet Grey. Differences in tone on photographs are almost certainly down to differences in glossiness or differences between batches used.
507A and 507B were not amalgamated or 507B renamed 507A or anything like that. 507A and 507B were both Home Fleet Grey, but the use of enamel was ordered to be ceased for war rationing so glossy 507B simply stopped being used until after the war ended and the Royal Navy's priorities changed from war rationing back to wanting attractive glossy paints that tolerated use more readily and thus looked better for longer - which was why 507B was introduced in the first place after 1929.
Thanks James... just as I thought this part of the build was going to be relatively easy!
I have quite a lot of the original WEM Colourcoats for 507A, 507B and 507C and there is quite a lot of difference in each in terms of colour.
The WEM 507A I have is a very dark grey and I have used that for steel decks as it appears very dark and fits with photos (and it was also called out in various texts and references - including all my Alan Raven stuff)
The WEM 507B is very much lighter and slightly bluish.. perhaps a little too blue, but doesn't at all look like a glossier version of 507A.
The WEM 507C is a very light bluish grey, again perhaps a bit too blue... and I have always thought it a little too dark, with 507C looking much much lighter in photos.
I had always trusted WEM paints to be pretty good in terms of colour accuracy, but it seems I have been somewhat naive here.
The picture EJ posted above is very similar to what I have done in the past... his metal deck surfaces look dark, what I would call 507A, and his superstructure verticals look a lot like my 507B, (although perhaps a tiny bit lighter and a little too blue?). EJ's colours certainly seem much close to what I had in mind. And although I know colour film from those days isnt really that reliable, seems much closer to the colour footage of Hood we have all seen.
I will be at Telford this weekend... I presume you will be there too? Do you have a colour swatch of your 507A and 507B that I could look at?
From what you are saying, the bare steel decks and the superstructure should all be the same colour, just a different amount of reflectivity, and at the time of sinking, should be just about identical as the glossy versions were unused by then - or have I got this wrong?
I hope so, because I think Hood would look very weird with the vast expanse of the steel deck being pretty much the same colour as the hull and superstructure... even as a base colour before weathering. And the overall impression would look extremely dark in comparison to photos, colour footage and other models I have seen if painted in the non-reflective 507A that I have!
I think I must have misunderstood your post... because the more I write this, the more I'm unsure that these were the same colours with different levels of reflectivity... either that or WEM got 507A and 507B completely wrong... as have many of my other references.