Which Tamiya paint for SBD Dountless?

This is always a toss-up.  I faced the same question for a P-38 I'm working on now.  I found, in the "Mr. Color" paint line-up, a blue-gray and a grayish blue, according to the label.  They look quite different.  I chose the blue-gray, since it just looked better to me.  There are so many "grays" out there, that I think all we can do is go with personal preference.

"Close enough, for goverment  work."

Pulled up the instructions for the Tamiya Wildcat-figured the blue grey & grey should be close-looks like some mixing of Tamiya colors to get the desired results-I remember using Model Master acrylics instead.  Anyway, here is the link for the instructions:

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10002313

It depends on when your SBD is in service. From the infomation give in your instructions it would be pre 1943, the two color scheme! The instructions for a three color Wild Cat would be incorrect.

For your two color SBD, This is the brake down.

     UPPER - FS 35189 Non-specular Blue-Grey 

                    Tamiya XF-18 Medium Blue: 3, XF-2 Flat White: 1

     Lower - FS 36440 Light Gull Grey

                   Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey:2, XF-2 Flat White: 1

Thanks Shipwreck, this is helpful. The aircraft in question is the Midway version. 

Cheers...

At Midway, the colors of the aircraft would be Blue Gray over Light Gray.

XF-18 seems to be a decent match for the top color.

BTW the FS color system came about post-war, so anyb FS spec. for this aircraft is a equivalent.

Bill

Yeah, I've used the XF-18 for the blue grey, lightened with a drop or two of white.

I like Tamiya's rattlecan aircraft colors, too, and from that range, I have used AS-19 Intermediate Blue (USN), but AS-2, Light Gray (USAF).  With weathering, they look good enough to my eye, so I'm happy with them.

The Dauntless I did last year was also a Midway version, the SBD-3.  I didn't like the idea of mixing paints as you will have to do with Tamiya.  I ended up using the paints included in Vallejo's US Navy & USMC Colors 1940 - 1945. M-485 for the blue-grey, and M-495 for the light grey.

This was the 1/32 Trumpeter kit.  Research I did at the time indicated the Vallejo colors were correct for the time period.

As you can see, the color weathered quite a bit under tropical ocean conditions.

I have a Dauntless in the stash.  Stik that is a great picture.  When I start mine I'll try and replicate that fading of paint.