Elco pt

Anyway, I agree with Dave about John at WEM, although I question the use of Norfolk 65A as a bottom paint for a number of reasons.  I sent him an email on this and am waiting for a response. Al Ross

John and I discussed this and, as I thought, he wasn't saying that Norfolk 65A was used on the real PTs (as one or two individuals have stated); rather, his position is that he thought that the color was close to that of "Coperoyd", the actual bottom paint used on the PTs.  The latter was a copper-based anti-fouling paint developed for use on high speed wooden craft, while the former was intended for steel hulls.  The formulae and mil-specs are different.  If you visit

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

"Instructions for Painting and Cementing Vessels of the United States Navy June 1943", you can get additional information.

John and the rest of the crew at WEM are top-notch.  Buy with confidence.

Al Ross

miserable old git wrote:

yahoo site. cant get in. damned thing. given up. think i have had problems with yahoo before.

Sorry to hear that.  I just tried the links Dave put up and they work fine for me (AOL).  Anyway, I agree with Dave about John at WEM, although I question the use of Norfolk 65A as a bottom paint for a number of reasons.  I sent him an email on this and am waiting for a response.

Al Ross 

thanks for that, dont know why i didnt try White ensign. just looked and here is info for future use

Italeri 1/35 Elco 80' PT Boat(Reference #IT 5602)
Please note the colour references given with the kit are incorrect. The correct colours for PT-596 are #2 Green (Colourcoats US 23), #3 Green (US 24), Deck Green (US 16) & Norfolk 65A Anti-Fouling (US 14). Please feel free to contact us for coulour info on other boats

as for the yahoo site. cant get in. damned thing. given up. think i have had problems with yahoo before.

Colin,

Right in your back yard is White Ensign Models.  They have paints that match the naval paints you're looking for.  You just have to remember that they are not mixed to the scale of this kit.  In other words you will need to lighten or darken as required to get a scale look.  The quality of these paints is excellent.  If you contact John Snyder over there he'll hook you up with what you need.  They can also provide you with paint chip sets that were developed by John under Snyder & Short.  I would also suggest looking at Al Ross' web sites which consist of his coastal forces site and small combatants discussion group.  Here are the links for those. 

http://www.coastalforcesplans.com/index.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallcombatants/

Good luck with your project!

Dave 

Thanks guys. should have said that i have no experience of painting in anything except navt greys, and the modern tank. as for weathering, still consider that a black art.

guess i willl have to wait till someone else does the job and see what they use, as i have no idea of the shade of greens required.

ta

colin

miserable old git wrote:

originaly posted this in armour, then found ships, gawd knows where it was hiding to start with, anyway. just getting to the painting bit of Italeri's PT boat. Can not find the closest coliours to use. can any one give me a clue? My easiest scource is the Tamyia range. Not too concerned about it beeing 100%. There seem to be three colors used. Green 2, Green 3, and deck Green, as well as a Dull Black. Also, could anybody give me a idiots guide to fading and weathering her? thanks Colin

Those color callouts are for WWII Naval Colors and they have absolutely no corresponding reference in the modern Fed-Std system -- and only marginal refernce to the ANA system in place during WWII.   First thing you must do is forget anything you learned about either of these systems.

Testors used to make a set of US Navy WWII colors in their Acryl II Marine line of paints.   These are out of production, but may still be found in some shops or ordered directly from Testors.   They made the Greens as well as #4 Brown.

Your best and most accurate choice for colors is the Colourcoat line of paints from White Ensign Models.   They are enamels.  They have all the greens, the browns, plus some of the specialty torpedo boat greens which were home-brewed using locally available paint stocks.  John Snyder of WEM is a paint conservator by training and vocation -- he married into the model business.  He knows what he is talking about.

There are no other out of the bottle solutions for you.

Don't want to go with the Colourcoats -- WEM also sells a series of naval paint chips.  These were originally done by John Snyder (of WEM) and Randy Short (of shipcamouflage.com).   Use these chips as your color standard when mixing your own.

Dull Black -- for that use aircraft interior black. 

As far as weathering a ship -- the best armor modeler I know woke me early one Saturday morning.  He had just finished painting a ship model for a group project.  "Weathering a ship is just like weathering a tank, except you leave off the mud!"   To that I will add,  weathering a PT Boat is just like weathering a tank, except you leave off the rust.  They were made of plywood.  

It is my opinion that modeling and painting large scale ships and subs (1:72 and larger) is more akin to armor modeling than it is to ship modeling.   Most of the techniques are similar and you don't have any of the techniques of the traditional smaller scales of ship modeling (rails,  folding PE, etc.).   Apply what you know from armor as far as shading seams,  highlighting panels, and washing details to the Italieri PT boat (or Revell's PT-109 or big subs).