One More Color Question(last one-I promise)

John, Thanks. Thats what I needed. Actually, your site is where I got the link I posted.
Pete

The USN instructions for Measure 1 called for steel decks and steel horizontal surfaces to be painted 5-D Dark Gray.

You can find all the USN's WW2 painting instructions at http://www.shipcamouflage.com

Scroll down the buttons on the left side of the main page.

Cheers,
John Snyder
White Ensign Models
http://WhiteEnsignModels.com

Tank, Thanks for the info. Just as background, I'm building the Commander Series 1/350 USS Ward for the Pearl Harbor build, and have been trying to run down the color scheme. As best as I can determine, at the time of Pearl Harbor, almost the entire U.S. Pacific Fleet was still painted in the Measure 1 scheme. I found a pretty comprehensive explanation on this link(In the interwar years section):

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/development_of_naval_camouflage.htm


The author states that at the time of the attack that the Pac. Fleet was entirely painted in the Ms.1 scheme and that probably less than a dozen Pac. Fleet destroyers (and a couple of cruisers) were painted in one of several different experimental schemes. He names some of them, none of which were the Ward, and it seems to me the odds of one being the Ward are slim. This is why I was going to go with the Ms.1 on the Ward. Unfortunately, other than a mention regarding the years immediately after WW I which states that the decks were a different shade than the vertical surfaces, there is no reference to the deck color in conjunction with the establishment of the USN measures in the years leading up to WW II, which is what prompted my question. To further complicate matters, I found a web site with a build review of this kit (I believe) which shows the deck as a different shade, but states that the ship was painted in the Measure 21 scheme. Although I'm not a rivet counter, I just want to be as accurate as possible. I'm tempted to go with the deck grey, if only to add a little visual interest to the finished model.

Dear Pete,

Several years back, Fine Scale used to run a column called Color & Camouflage.
An article appeared in Finescale March 1998, written and beautifully illustrated
by Roman Detyna. It was basically entitled U.S. Navy Fletcher-class destroyers:
WWII Camouflage measures.

There you have 4 color versions depicting fletchers from the starboard profile, waterline and
up. They begin in September 1941 with measure 12 and continue with 22, 21, and 32. In all
schemes, the decks are said to have been painted in overall Deck Blue-B. A color match
was then listed as Floquil's Marine blue (818600) or Pollyscale (505338).

However, I understand you're looking to replicate the measure 1, battleship row ships of Pearl
Harbor. It would seem the overall paint scheme for these ships was dark grey and that would
most likely include the decks as well. Since the decks would have taken more of a beating, I wouldn't
hesitate to paint them in an uneven manner and weather to show the effects of wear and tear such as
in trafficked areas. These might possibly appear a bit lighter where a rust
primer undercoating might appear.

Hope this helps,
Tank