Modelers.
This image;
Attachment:
Juneau-lg-2.jpg
Is "unreliable" and appears to be "light" for the same reason that these ships appear dark in the ship image and almost "white" in the second image. The camera and platform taking both photos is the same, an Avenger from USS HORNET on the morning of 26 October 1942 as the attack formation is circling TF 17 before heading to attack the IJN forces. The ships are seen backlighted by the sun in the first image and in direct sun light in the second image and are reflecting the sun's brightness.
The Santa Cruz Action Report Photo #99 taken from USS NORTHAMPTON at a range of about guessing a mile+ away in a turn does NOT show a dark lower hull, it shows a lighter band at the waterline that matches "roughly" the location of the armor belt. See "A" on image below. The Boot Strip shows below that light area. See "B" on image below. The darker area on the bow area is a shadow in the area below the knuckle. See "C" on image below. A feature noted in several images I posted earlier. The upper hull and superstructure are close to the same shade of grayscale on vertical surfaces. Also, we don't know if this cruiser is USS JUNEAU or USS SAN DIEGO, both of which were in TF 17 during the retreat.
USS JUNEAU as painted in June 1942 had a high contrast dark band of 5-N paint with a much light band of 5-H above it on her hull on her STARBOARD side. And a lighter contrasting lower band (likely 5-O) on her PORTSIDE. In the 16 September 1942 over exposed views in the background of views of USS LAFFEY, her portside paint scheme shows a well worn hull, but the dark pattern can been seen, while the superstructure looks lighter still.
PLEASE note how worn and "light (salt)-coated" her paint is in these views on 16 September 1942, and where and HOW HIGH the salt residue is located. Prior to this photo, USS JUNEAU had been at sea since early June 1942, first to Argentia, then all the way to Brazil through the Caribbean, before heading to the Pacific via the Panama Canal with only a brief overnight drydocking to repair a leaking oil tank.
The last image below, shows USS SAN JUAN at Tongatabu as seen from USS ENTERPRISE on 30 August 1942. The crew is touching up her hull paint during their brief two day layover before heading to Pearl Harbor for repairs. PLEASE note the light salt coated areas being painted over.
The contrast adjusted version of image #99 (see attached link below) does NOT change those factors. It just makes the lighter areas lighter and the darker areas darker. Well beyond the generally constant contrast seen in the original image #99 above scanned from the print in the report at a hi-res close crop view.
download/file.php?id=104513&mode=viewIf the cruiser in this image #99 was clearly "light", then your observations about light color painted Canadian vessels may be relevant. The cruiser in this image #99 stands out quite well against the background sky. Also, modern warships get regular maintenance and use better quality paint that in general is more glossy than paint used in WWII. Salt wouldn't show up as much on a hull painted as light as the Canadian vessels. But, we are talking about the gray painted cruiser in image #99.
Once again, the small images from the USS SAN JUAN reunion website and the multiple images (Santa Cruz Action Report photo #138 is nothing more than a blob buried in smoke) posted in this thread taken at distances of 4,000 + yards, just are not going to be useable for accurate analysis of details nor can have their identification verified. No one can use those small images to paint a model with a "pattern" camo, if it exists on that cruiser. The USS HORNET Avenger taken photos on 26 October 1942 at about 500-ft altitude and some 1,000 to 2,000-ft slant range and by USS RUSSELL alongside on 28 October, much closer than the formation photos taken from USS NORTHAMPTON, show that USS JUNEAU was clearly in a solid camo scheme of unknown color.