Painting the Fletcher

If you are choosing to go with Tamiya's color mixes only, then yes their mix for 20B Deck Blue would be correct for all WWII USN deck blue applications.

However, and it is a big however,  Tamiya's color mixes are intended to sell Tamiya paint.  Their color selection is not the most accurate.   The most accurate source of USN WWII colors is in the White Ensign Models Colourcoat line of enamels.   Testor's used to make a line of acrylic naval colors which were based on these paints but they are now out of production.  Some may still be available direct from Testors or in some online sources.

If you still intend to mix your colors, then perhaps you should invest in a set of Snyder & Short paint color chips as a standard reference.  These are available from White Ensign Models or from shipcamouflage.com.   They are paint (not ink) which has been correctly matched to the 1929 Munsell color reference used by the US Navy as the period standard.

As a minor point of correction, the Testors/ Model Masters paints that Ed mentioned were matched to the Snyder & Short color chips and not the WEM paints. Snyder & Short is at http://www.shipcamouflage.com/ and more information on the color chips can be viewed here.

Also available there is the Ship Camouflage Database.

Thanks guys, your'e a big help

I don't have any information to add to the knowledgable posts above.  I would, however, strongly urge anybody with a tendency toward obsession with "accurate" warship colors to take a look at this Forum thread:  /forums/1/987616/ShowPost.aspx#987616 .

A good thread Professor!  In my 'good old days' the place to get models was Woolworths 5 & 10 cent store... They always had a supply of the small Pyro kits that could be had for cheap, and the Testors paint too, and if you didn't like the selection at one, there was always another Woolworths that you could peddle to in the next village square....

jtilley wrote:

I would, however, strongly urge anybody with a tendency toward obsession with "accurate" warship colors

Good points, but I find it easier to START with accurate paints before adding weathering and scale light. 

Your four-piper experience is what I liketo call "Adventures in Metamerism!"