color guide for arizona

uspsjuan wrote:

I have on the bench a Mini Hobby Models USS Arizona. OK kit( I've seen better) but the painting guide sucks. No direction as to what color deck pieces are,what shade of gray is used, it even says to paint the main gun tubes silver.I know this kit is close to the bottom of the barrel, but I would still like it to look right .  thanks in advance

The Arizona was painted in Measure 1 on the morning of December 7th.   

It is generally accepted that the Arizona was painted out of the interwar light gray (Standard Navy Gray #5) into Measure 1 in the spring of 1941.  This called for Dark Gray (5D) on the hull and superstructure to the funnel tops and Light Gray (5L) on the upperworks above that.  

5D chalked badly and was difficult to maintain, so there were orders issued in the fall that the Pacific battlefleet was to be painted out of 5D into another color, Sea Blue (5S).   This was to be done as stock of 5D was depleted and 5S became available.

The Arizona was involved in a collision with the Oklamoma in November and had a short yard period for some repairs.    It is not known for certain whether the Arizona received a repainting during that yard period.    The records appear to have been destroyed.

There is a controversy surrounding the color that has been applied to the new model at the Arizona visitors center at Pearl.   One survivor says that it was painted 'Mediterranean Blue'.   Other survivors say that it was dark gray or black (5D is almost charcoal black), and that it 'wasn't painted like a cruiser' [i.e. blue].    It is generally accepted that the red turret tops are correct.

Its your model and you can paint it as you wish:

Standard Navy Gray #5 for before April; or Measure 1 with 5L over 5D for April to November (or as lost?); or Measure 1 with 5L over 5S (for November to December?).  Insignia Red turret tops on #1, 2, and 4 could be correct for each. 

Wood decks for each are bright (holystoned) teak.  Steel deck for Interwar are Standard Navy Deck Gray #5.   Steel decks for the other measures will match the superstructure color selected.

This is the Arizona model at the visitors center at Pearl Harbor.   It is painted in the 5S Sea Blue measure.    Red turret tops have been publicized & accepted in only the last 2 to 3 years.  We've seen them in the aerial photos of the attack, but never recognized them.  Some researchers found an order from Kimmel and what we were seeing became obvious.

Essentially everything which sticks up above the plane of the deck gets painted.

5D Dark Gray is very dark gray. MM Engine Gray may be close enough for your purposes

Thank you, it's a lovely model.  I hope to visit there someday.

uspsjuan wrote:

There is a controversy surrounding the color that has been applied to the new model at the Arizona visitors center at Pearl.   One survivor says that it was painted 'Mediterranean Blue'.   Other survivors say that it was dark gray or black (5D is almost charcoal black), and that it 'wasn't painted like a cruiser' [i.e. blue].    It is generally accepted that the red turret tops are correct.

the "mediterrenean blue" is a sailors descriptive name for the blue. DO NOT confuse this with royal navy mediterranean blue as produced by humbrol, which is a medium un beret baby blue the drawing with the article from the honolulu newspaper dtd 07dec2006 incorrectly shows this color. don pruel, the model curator at the us naval academy, build the model at the visitor's center and did the color research. a back issue of nautical research guild from 2007 on will have an article.