Revell Cutter Eastwind--paint and markings?

Thunder1 is right: the official name of the color used for masts was "Spar Color." Now my senile memory is trying to figure out where I saw a reference to a color called "Mast." (Maybe it's the color of Cunard steamships' masts. Or maybe White Star. Dunno.)

Here's an interesting document from the Coast Guard Historian's webpage, detailing the regulations for painting CG vessels as of 1935: www.uscg.mil/.../USCG_Painting_Regs_1935.pdf . It does mention "spar color."

One curious point, though. In the text of the instructions the document refers to "spar color" as "No. 7." The CG Historian's Office appended a set of color chips from the same instructions, on the same date. On that chart, "No. 7" is a bright green - and there's no color labeled "Spar Color" (or "Mast"). There are, however, several shades of yellow ochre and buff.

I too wish the manufacturers would provide intelligent painting instructions for their ship kits, but that's probably too much to hope for. A couple of years back I sent Revell an e-mail about its latest re-release of the Taney. The advertising blurb in the online catalog said something to the effect that the ship "is now in service on the Atlantic Sea Frontier." That copy appeared on the web after the ship had been out of commission, and on public exhibition as a museum ship in Baltimore, for more than twenty years. I pointed out that Revell was missing an opportunity, in that connections with preserved ships help sell kits. I never got an answer, of course.

I figured out long ago that the people who write ads - and instructions - for several major model companies (mainly American ones) have no knowledge whatsoever of the subjects their products represent.

On the off-chance that anybody's interested, here are my contributions to the available material on the Taney and the Eastwind:  http://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/plans/CGCRogerBTaneyColor.jpg and http://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/plans/CGCEastwind.jpg .

Don't trust the colors on the Taney drawing. I had to used colors that were available through Photoshop; then they had to be duplicated (we hope) with printer's ink - and gawd knows what may have happened to them when they got put on the Web.

Three cheers for anybody who builds a model of a Coast Guard vessel!

In point of fact the color Mr.Tilley refers to is "Spar" it's a tough color to replicate. Most builders use tan, yellow, even "flesh" to represent "spar" paint. White Ensign models offer a line of paint and has USCG "Spar" as one of it's colors.

  It's encouring to see other companies offer a 327' cutter in 1:350 WWII appearence as well as the 1:700 scale version, both pre war and WWII. There is a version one could build from the Revell kit that I've never seen as a model. After WWII, the Coast Guard removerd all the ASW gear (K guns, depth charge racks and hedge hogs from the 327' cutters. The ships armament consisted of a 5" gun, twin forties and a pair of dual 20mm 's. The Revell Campbell/Taney model could be modified easily but the wood decking has those alignment "lines" molded on deck, those would need to be sanded off.

 With the threat of the Soviet navy's large submarine fleet, the Service re armed all it's cutters and patrol boats with some type of ASW gear in the early 1950's.

PS If you want an acurate looking model, don't apply the red racing stripe on the old Revell model 327', Eastwind icebreaker, and the Lindberg 95' cutter if you are building them out of the box. The model companies should advise the builder of that in the building instructions....

The Taney is a re boxing of the Campbell. Not a bad kit for the late fifties. It shows the ship as she looked at that time.

There were small differences between the 327-foot cutters, but those differences should be fairly simple to deal with. Each of them also went through several major modifications during her career. Turning that kit into a WWII - or pre-WWII - version would be a big project, and a worthwhile one. For my money they looked classiest in their original configuration: two black-painted 4" guns forward and a seaplane aft. The Bulls and superstructure were white, and the stacks were a distinctive yellowish buff color (which the Coast Guard calls "mast") with black tops. Beautiful ships. I think there's a 1/700 resin kit that depicts that configuration.

FYI... it looks like GMM  makes a PE set  300-17 REVELL USCG CAMPBELL / EASTWIND, and here's a link to a nice mod build of the Taney. IDK if this is just a rebox of either the Campbell or Eastwind, but I surmise that there are enough similarities that this might be of use.

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/misc/uscg/taney-303-tr/tr-index.html

jtilley said he was impressed by how small Northwind was....

I spent 2 months on board her in the 80s, on a temporary assignment.  Coming from a 210' RELIANCE class Cutter, my impression was the ship seemed huge!!  I especially remember how spacious the bridge wings seemed, because it  included the space that was formerly a 20mm gun tub....

Hi , Dirk !

I have  to say this. Years ago ,my Grans asked me if I wanted a model when she went shopping .Yeah , they had models at Colonial Bell markets back then .I told her to get me the " little roundish fat one "

    She came home with this ,as she said " Cute little ship " Yep, it was the "East Wind !  "

I am, someday, going to tackle my 1/700 model of the Eastwind from Loose Cannon Productions. In Thayer Blue and white WWII scheme, just to make things even harder, of course.

Great info, and interesting indeed! Thank you guys!

Chris

In case anybody else finds GMorisson's last post baffling, Raymond Loewy's company was hired during the Kennedy administration to design the "racing stripe" logo for the Coast Guard.

The great industrial designer Raymond Loewy

The kit's configuration dates it pretty firmly to the fifties. For the WWII configuration, you'd need to remove the helicopter pad and add a second twin 5" mount, along with a J2F Duck airplane and its associated gear. During the war she wore Thayer blue and white camouflage. I think both 5" mounts were gone by the sixties. Somewhere along the line she acquired the hi-viz Arctic color scheme: red hull with the racing stripe in white.

Bottom line: Revell (within the limitations of the era) pretty much got it right. The kit color scheme is about right for the configuration depicted by the kit parts. If you want to paint it in a different scheme, and you want a reasonably accurate model, you'll be dealing with a pretty elaborate conversion project.

I had to do some digging about this ship back in 1989, when the CG Historian's Office hired me to do a drawing of her. One interesting feature of the original design was a second propeller in the bow, to break up ice chunks. That idea was a dud, and the bow screw was removed by the end of the war.

I happened to get a look at a sister ship, the Northwind, when she was tied up at the Coast Guard pier in Wilmington, NC, waiting to be scrapped. The big impression I remember was of how incredibly small she was.

Ice breakers make really interesting models. Good luck.

Chris

Ed G. has covered many good sources for USCG painting instruction.

 As far as the Coast Guard "racing stripe" goes, it dates back to January 1967 when the Service left the Treasury Department and was transfered to the Department of Transportation. All CG units afloat received the red stripe and the "Coast Guard" lettering on the cutter's hull for "Hi-Viz" identification .

 If you want to model the icebreaker accurately, build it as it appears in the kit, no racing stripe. No gray painted hull(unless you want to model the USN version USS ATKA, USS EDISTO, USS BURTON ISLAND from the 1950's).  The Revell model was released in the mid-1950's and this reflects the ship's paint appearence.

Good luck.

Nice kit

USCG Historians Office

Paining USCG Vessels - 1935

http://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/USCG_Painting_Regs_1935.pdf

Paint & Color manual 1952

http://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/paint/1952_CG263_Paint.pdf

Paint & Color Manual Rev 1965

http://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/USCG_Painting_Regs_1965.pdf

During time of war when the USCG is incorporated into the Navy,  naval painting instructions prevail

Coatings & Color Manual - 1973

http://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/USCG_Painting_Regs_1973.pdf