Accurate decals for 1/350 Los Angeles class subs? Also, a question re: hull red

I have never been satisfied with any of the blacks I have tried. The closest I have come to replicating the shade on all of the submarines on which I have served was a mixture of Tamiya German Gray, with Tamiya flat black and navy blue. It was simply trial and error, and was close but still didn't look quite right, even considering scale effect. I will look at some of the railroad paints. Thanks!

Bill

Look into some railroad colors- there are several black shades made by by Floquil/Polly Scale in enamel and acrylic: Engine Black, Weathered Black, Grimy Black, Oily Black...

I'll have to try the aircraft interior black. Thanks for the tip!

Bill

The Navy has been keeping up with paint and coating advances and is trying new formulas and materials out to decrease upkeep costs. The "below waterline" coating is much too dark for gunship gray and looks more like a chalked black. One thing for modelers new to the hobby is that pure black looks way too dark "in scale" and a very dark gray will typically look better and more true. I like to use ModelMaster's "Aircraft Interior Black" (Acryl and enamel versions available) as a good submarine base. My 1/350th LA class and Skipjack used this with regular flat black for the anti skid, if you want to see how it looks.

warshipguy

. Why did the submarine service change?

Bill

New materials? Camoflage? Ease of maintenance? Secret stuff?

Beats me.  

Lee

Thanks for the photos. I am struck by how different the color scheme is from the date I retired in 1996, both in the masts and antennaes, and in the hull paint scheme. Why did the submarine service change?

Bill

Awesome pics. Thanks Subfixer!

There are no deck markings but the draft markers are always on there.

The paint color above the waterline is a semi-gloss black (boot topping like the black stripe on the hulls of surface ships.) The anti-fouling paint below the water line is like a dark gunship gray and has a flat or matte finish.

I updated the pictures in my post above as some of them didn't reproduce here before. ( I can see them on my screen but couldn't on a different computer.)

Also, is this boat in the PreComm stage? The boats I see almost every day in New London/Groton do not have the deck markings typically mounted during builder's trials and not during active service.

Bill

What shade of gray is that on the lower hull?

Bill

This is how all current USN SSNs look now. Do you notice all the different shades on different components and panels? It is because some surfaces are for sensors and do not get the anechoic tiles like the normal hull does. Also, numerous classified sections have been covered up, like the the seawater exchange ports and the propulsor (propeller).    I am putting a picture of a torpedo propulsor in here so you can get an idea of what the sub's propulsor looks like.

This is what a submarine usually looks like out of the water before pressure cleaning and paint:

I served on six different submarines including 3 SSN's and 3 SSBN's from 1980 to mid-1996. Four of them were painted the standard flat red tinged with a small mixture of brown on the lower hull half while the upper half was a shade of flat black. The Tamiya hull red is not the correct shade of red, nor is most flat black paints the correct shade of black. Also, the masts and antennaes were painted a silvery gray with black mottled camouflage.

Today, the submarines that I have seen at the US Naval Submarine Base in Groton, CT are painted overall flat black, as are the upper parts of the masts and antennaes; the lower part is a charcoal-gray.

The best match I have seen for the overall black hulls and sails is the Tamiya German Gray, although it should be darkened with a little blue. There are no deck markings except at builder's trials prior to delivery to the Navy. I have never seen hull numbers painted on a submarine, and the numbers seen on the sail are nothing but temporary plaques put in place when in port.

I hope that it helps!

Bill

Thanks, gents.

The US Navy has gone to an overall black on sumarines in this century. If you want to do a Cold War boat, hull red lower hull is good. War on Terror era, black will work.

Thanks, Ed. Know anything on the hull red issue?

All identifying markings are removed from operational US submarines.   This includes both the large hull numbers on the sail and the smaller number on the hull.  Names are also painted over.    Numbers are shown for photo ops with magnetized stick on numbers.

If you really need to locate a set of LA class number decals, contact Brandon at Freetime Hobbies and ask him if they have any left over decal sets which used to be included in the old Blue Water Navy/Yankee Modelworks resin sub kits.