IJN Chikuma at Leyte color question.

[Glenn-S]

Afternoon everyone:

I have been doing research on the Battle of Leyte Gulf and I am also building models of the ships involved. I am having a particularly hard time determining what color the Chikuma was in during the battle. Most of the references I have are vague on this and all the others I have are in Japanese, which I can't read. The model instructions don't help either as they only reference the company's paint or a general "Dark Gray".

The only lead I have had seems to indicate that her last major refit was done at Kure. Does this mean that she was in Kure Arsenal Gray?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, any other color research help for the other ships involved would be great too. Thanks!!!

Glenn

[Tracy White]

Most likely Kure Gray, if that's where her last work was done. Each yard had a slightly different color, so it's usually best to go through the appropriate TROM (Tabular Record of Movement) to make a determination which is the most likely candidate.