Since it's discussed in two places simultaneously, I thought I'd post the essential bits of my response in the CASF County Class thread here too. I'd hate for anyone to believe the matter is settled because I don't believe it is.
Quote:
Unfortunately HMS Norfolk is very difficult. There are not enough good quality photographs of her, and in discussion with dick, elcejay, cag and medway08 it was pointed out by dick that we can see enough to acknowledge that the same basic scheme was on the ship for a rather long time but that there are differences in shape and placement of some panels of camouflage. Dick has identified at least 3 basic phases of evolution but there isn't enough information to accurately map it.
We have an incomplete written list of paints used at one particular point in time in the middle of this long period, as well as some colour footage from several months later of only the port side which does not quite reconcile intuitively with the written account. Due to the confirmed but incomplete changes to the camouflage design, a change in one or more paint colours cannot be ruled out either.
We could possibly counsel on which paints we'd use to either resemble some photographs, and/or the written account or the colour footage, but not all at the same time and even then it would come with a big government health warning. I don't think any of the aforementioned, including myself, would be so bold as to state that we have a reasonably robust argument in favour of any particular camouflage design for HMS Norfolk during her period of having a disruptive pattern camouflage scheme. It's just too easy to pick holes in any given suggestion such that a fair degree of doubt remains.
As always, it seems easier to say what it isn't than what it is.
Of course this doesn't mean you all can't build models, but as is often the way of things the kit manufacturers have chosen a subject for which the camouflage scheme is only partially documented and, as far as we can tell, changed over a fairly long period of time.
This isn't like HMS Prince of Wales where the scheme was worn for around 5 months, is very well photographed in B&W, has a good square-on colour capture on cine too and the only panel which doesn't look the same in all sources is fully explained by the presence of a photograph showing matelots on ropes with paint brushes in hand half-way through painting it darker. Likewise it's not like HMS Rodney and Nelson for which we can more or less track the changes to the camouflage pattern through time within certain date-tolerances as both are rather well photographed.