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PT Boat Colors

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  • Member since
    February 2005
Posted by sgtmac on Thursday, September 10, 2009 5:35 AM

Of course, you could always try a really different paint scheme-

  • Member since
    May 2006
Posted by thunder1 on Thursday, September 10, 2009 12:05 AM

Howdy!

Try www.ptboatworld.com for some examples of PT boat paint schemes.

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  • Member since
    March 2008
  • From: Cincinnati, Ohio USA
Posted by Drew Cook on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 11:28 PM
Tracy and all,

The best references that have come to light in recent years for the actual color of PT 109 under JFK are three vintage Kodachrome color photos from the collection of one of PT 61's wartime skippers, Ken Prescott, who has stated he often tied the 61 up next to the 109.  The photos were taken at "Searlesville," in the Russell Islands, before the 109 moved up to Rendova.

The subject in the photos, of course, was PT 61, but in three of them, small sections of PT 109  can be seen in the background, tied alongside to starboard.  They are: #1) the 109's port aft hull, deck, and (port aft) torpedo tube, #2) the 109's port torpedo tubes, showing bronze-colored torpedo warheads in the tubes and her stern flagstaff with U.S. flag, and #3) some of the 109's "superstructure," i.e.; the top aft portion of the port cockpit splash shield, the top of the dayroom canopy, the port (aft) twin-.50 caliber turret, the top of the 20mm gun and its limit-stop rail, and the stern U.S. flag.  A shirtless crewman, who may possibly be Andrew Kirksey, is seen standing on deck.

In those Kodachromes, the color of the 109 -- everywhere except her deck -- very closely matches the U.S. Navy paint color Deck Green (20-G). The deck is somewhat lighter in color, most probably due to the constant scuffing of the crew's shoes/boots, and is close to the U.S. Navy paint color Navy Green (5-NG).

Those color Kodachromes were posted sometime during the last year or so on the PT Boats, Inc. website's Message Board, and I believe they have also been posted (at least photo #2 above has) somewhere on the internet.

Tracy's 1/72nd scale Revell 109 looks good, but with all due respect, and in a nod to the photographic evidence I related above, his green paint job (and the White Ensign Models "Tropical Green" and "MTB Green" colors) is way too light.  Deck Green 20-G is a much darker green, and the hull, tubes, and "superstructure" of the 109 in those vintage photos is pretty dark, the scuffed deck a little less so.             
  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: EG48
Posted by Tracy White on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 6:14 PM

There was variety to the colors; PT-109 originally shipped out to the South Pacific on pre-war gray (I have photos here) but was later repainted in a tropical green that I believe was a mixture of  zinc chromate and black paint. White Ensign has a Tropical green matched to it; my favorite US source for it is ShipCamouflage.com. You can see my work-in-progress PT-109 in this color about 3/4 of the way down this page.

Tracy White Researcher@Large

  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Cherry valley il.
Posted by invertman on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 5:46 PM

my son is building this kit right now.

it seems from the pics that i have come across,the upper deck color is more of a

grey green color. i found the pics on the net some time ago,i will see if i can find them again.

jason.

  if you want permission for a test flight.... the answer is "no".

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Newfoundland, Canada
PT Boat Colors
Posted by rodc on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 5:18 PM

I just opened my Revell PT-109 and was struck by the awful green color of the sprues.  After reading the instructions, the color references in there make it sound as if the finished model will be forest green with little blobs of copper, silver and black.  This cannot be right.  The box art shows an olive drab deck with gunwales and a pale gray hull.  This is looking a little better but......surely the US Navy did not have olive drab boats did they?  The color references in the instructions are pretty poor and I was wondering if someone has some advice to a more realistic color scheme as well as color references for different parts on the boat such as the torpedo launchers, mufflers, hull, deck, guns, dinghy (I assume they were not blaze orange in WW2 for obvious reasons.......wouldn't want a nice bright orange target on the bowBig Smile [:D]Big Smile [:D]).

I would love to see some color pics if any exist and any other paint color suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

RODC

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