Deck colours (and colors)

Wulf Corbett

Mongoose
Quoting from another thread:
Fitzwalrus said:
20-B Deck Blue is the standard regulation color for decks and most horizontal surfaces in WWII USN ships, though there is some variation depending on the specific camo scheme involved. The Deck Blue would also wear off after a time, and I've seen color photos of WWII US battleships with the blue worn off from weather and crew foot traffic and the underlying wood deck showing through.
After having to hand-mix Deck Blue for years, Poly-S now makes a "Weathered 20-B" in their US range of colors that is quite nice.

The Japanese used a dark brown-ish linoleum on the metal decks of destroyers and other small vessels to dissipate heat, and had wood decks on larger ships (there are numerous accounts from US flyers of looking down and seeing the tan color of IJN decks.) I usually use a medium-brownish-tan color for IJN decks large and small and call it good, though I also have a number of DD's that are just overall grey.

I'm not as familiar with the European navies. The Germans definitely had light wood-colored decks on some of their larger units, and camouflaged the decks on others (Tirpitz in her Norwegian lair,for one.) One book I have says the Brits used a color similar to the US Deck Blue on their ships. There is at least some photographic evidence that Italian ships had naturally-colored wood decks on their larger units, along with the well-known "barber pole" red and white air recognition markings. The French: I couldn't tell ya.
OK, since we're on a roll here, what about carrier decks? Anyone know a good source of pics of deck markings?

I have a decent collection of sources of camoflage markings, but NONE of them include deck colours (ships or carriers), other than a bland "US ship decks were painted a uniform Deck Blue 20-B" or the like.

Anyone who can add anything else, please do so!

Wulf
 
The Missouri's deck is currently wood colored. Is that just because it is easier to leave it wood colored than it is to maintain it?
 
Soulmage said:
The Missouri's deck is currently wood colored. Is that just because it is easier to leave it wood colored than it is to maintain it?
And prettier. Apparently if you look closely, there are still blue flecks in the cracks (and I know someone who's got a fleck...)

Wulf
 
Wulf Corbett said:
Soulmage said:
The Missouri's deck is currently wood colored. Is that just because it is easier to leave it wood colored than it is to maintain it?
And prettier. Apparently if you look closely, there are still blue flecks in the cracks (and I know someone who's got a fleck...)

Wulf

I don't have any paint chips off of the Missouri, but years ago (in my youth you know :wink: ) when once I visited the Missouri in mothballs at Bremerton, Washington I climbed up on the boot of the middle 16" barrel of "A" turret and scooted out to the end of it where my brother took a photo of me riding it "cowboy-style". If I had fallen to the deck, I might have broken something as I was a bit in the air. BTW, there were none of the "Missouri chaperones" around to tell me that wasn't allowed, and I sure did not ask, heh. :lol:
 
For the U.S. ships, this site may help some- http://www.shipcamouflage.com/warship_camouflage.htm.

USN aircraft carrier flight decks were not painted with 20-B, but were rather stained with formula 21 which was a blue-grey mix. It might have ended up being a bit lighter than 20-B but in practice I would suspect would weather down like other paints. I have usually grey-primed my flight decks and then used a very thinned wash of blue-grey to good effect. I remember using a #11 Ex-acto blade to score planks into some of the models before priming and this added to the finished look.

Here are some examples from my collection of 1/2400 scale ships. The small Langley model (CV-1 or later AV-3) is to show size comparisons with the two larger carriers, both of which were named Yorktown. CV-5 Yorktown, the one sunk at Midway, is painted in measure 1 camouflage. My CV-10 Yorktown is done in a measure 33 design 10A scheme or what is known as a "dazzle" camouflage. This angle doesn't show it off well, and is more as a view of the weathered deck which looks better than the other two models. As a side note, the Langley model is from Panzerschiffes, the CV-5 model is from C-in-C and the CV-10 model is from GHQ.

USNCarriers.jpg
 
DM said:
"cowboy-style"

Round here we call it "Cher Style" :D

Hmm, I'll have to go and find that old music video and see if it was the same barrel. Perhaps she sat upon "B" turret maybe? (time passing...)
Nope, "A" turret! Oh, my. :shock: Same spot. Great song, but I never liked her "fishnet" garb. I thought she was getting a tad old for looking like a shore pass floosie :roll: .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZX4P11sq2I
 
BuShips said:
Hmm, I'll have to go and find that old music video and see if it was the same barrel. Perhaps she sat upon "B" turret maybe? (time passing...)
Nope, "A" turret! Oh, my. :shock: Same spot. Great song, but I never liked her "fishnet" garb. I thought she was getting a tad old for looking like a shore pass floosie :roll: .
Apparently her son was a member of the crew at the time... I bet that was a topic of polite conversation for a few days...

Wulf
 
Wulf Corbett said:
BuShips said:
Hmm, I'll have to go and find that old music video and see if it was the same barrel. Perhaps she sat upon "B" turret maybe? (time passing...)
Nope, "A" turret! Oh, my. :shock: Same spot. Great song, but I never liked her "fishnet" garb. I thought she was getting a tad old for looking like a shore pass floosie :roll: .
Apparently her son was a member of the crew at the time... I bet that was a topic of polite conversation for a few days...

Wulf

When I viewed the video on youtube, the comments below it said her son was playing guitar, but that doesn't mean he wasn't also a crewmember.

Partly to get Cher's fishnet bodystocking out of my head as well as to get back closer to ship colors, here is an example of the measure 33 scheme that was used for the Essex fleet carriers and a lower angle shot of the CV-10. At the same time, I threw into the pic the CV-7 Wasp and the CV-8 Hornet for some additional historical camo methods.

M31-32-33_10A_CV-9Class.jpg


1_2400_USN_CAMO.jpg
 
As far as deck colors, if you're not sure just go with a wood color and it should be safe. In some of the wartime photos they left the decks alone as well. If you want to get as accurate as you can, just google the ship's name and view as many reference photos as possible. The sad thing is that many photos are b&w and few are in color.
 
There are several rare color photos showing blue flight decks on US carriers on the Naval Historical Center's web page:

http://www.history.navy.mil/index.html

From the home page, select "Online Resources" then "Online Photograph Collection." Scroll down to "U.S. Navy Ships" where you can search by ship name or by hull number. Several carriers, including Hornet (CV12) and Cowpens (CVL25) clearly have blue-stained decks.
 
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