What fleet(s) are you collecting?

DM said:
Straight paint the decks brown.
Dark blue for USN :)
But how many people actually do that? I've been put off painting Deck Blue because I haven't seen anyone else do so. Was this really a rule in WW2? Are all the brown-deckers wrong?

What really annoys me is trying to work out which bits of decks were wood, and which metal/linoleum/whatever - at least Deck Blue removes that worry!

Wulf
 
captainsmirk said:
But if we all took that view wouldn't it turn the game into some sort of English Civil War 1939 type thing?
Tell you what, all the English-built ships vs. all the Scottish-built ships... 8)

Wulf
 
Wulf Corbett said:
DM said:
Straight paint the decks brown.
Dark blue for USN :)
But how many people actually do that? I've been put off painting Deck Blue because I haven't seen anyone else do so. Was this really a rule in WW2? Are all the brown-deckers wrong?

What really annoys me is trying to work out which bits of decks were wood, and which metal/linoleum/whatever - at least Deck Blue removes that worry!

Wulf

Depended a little on the actual ship contractors... for example, Alsando that build most italian ships went for a beigebrown deck colour for the great reason of... esthetics (he, italian after all lol), as well as the theathre the ships was intended to.

In `sunny and hot` enviroments like the meditterean, the dark blue decks where a disadvantage due to them absorbing sunlight more and becomming quite hot when lying in the sun for hours. Like the rule of black vs white, black absorbs, white reflects. In less sunny parts of the world like the north sea (we`re talking 2/3 of the year sunny averages here, not an occasional sunny summer) this wasn`t that much of an issue.

Actually, this still is done quite a lot these days in the medditerean area fisherboats for just this exact reason... and is one of those things that you never think of as a reason, the only way I found out is because I have a relative living in southern italy that actually works in the boat building business and he told me that once in those kind of `family stories` that inevitably come up during visits.
 
Wulf Corbett said:
DM said:
Straight paint the decks brown.
Dark blue for USN :)
But how many people actually do that? I've been put off painting Deck Blue because I haven't seen anyone else do so. Was this really a rule in WW2? Are all the brown-deckers wrong?

What really annoys me is trying to work out which bits of decks were wood, and which metal/linoleum/whatever - at least Deck Blue removes that worry!

Wulf

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. :)
 
If anyone is lazy like me you can buy WWII nation specific navy paint straight out of the tin from White Ensign Models. It's enamel and comes in the little humbrol sized tins. Includes deck paints. You can also get aircraft colours.
 
I'm pretty sure he was Lithuanian in the novel, but it's been a few years since I read it. Strange that the Belorussian accent would sound like the Edinburgh accent, though. It's not like they're next door to each other...
 
Lord David the Denied said:
I'm pretty sure he was Lithuanian in the novel, but it's been a few years since I read it. Strange that the Belorussian accent would sound like the Edinburgh accent, though. It's not like they're next door to each other...
I could be wrong, can't find a verifying website.

Well, apparently Russians have an easier time understanding a Scottish accent than an English one. And they do hold Rabbie Burns' poetry in high esteem...

Wulf
 
Ramius was from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, so he defintely wasn't Russian (I think Ryan makes quite a play about this in his briefing to the SofS). His nickname in the book was (IIRC) "The Vilnius Schoolteacher".
 
The book naval comouflage by David Williams shows lots of pictures with the various colour schemes for decks and superstructure the most prolific user and developer of them was the US followed by the Brits. The vast majority of US ships did use the deck blue 20B.They used numerous anti dazzle schemes and these are well worth duplicating on you models as they look fab I will post some of my GHQ models with some of these schemes so you can see for your self the difference between plain grey and "proper" camouflage
 
I have Kriegsmarine, and my boyfriend has IJN.

Our game sessions are mostly very short and involve my ships sinking quickly. But mine are painted with historically accurate camo, so I'm just reinforcing the gamer law - nicely painted models always die first!

I love my ships. Wish I got to see them last a little longer. :D
 
RN all the way

I just ordered the following
1 KGV
1 Nelson
3 Q.E.'s
2 Fiji's
1 Edinburgh
2 Norfolk
2 Leander
2 Perth
3 Tribal
3 J/K/M
 
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