USS Arizona Colors Question

OKay, thanks!!

When she was painted in overall #5 standard navy gray, was that overall?  And by that I mean does that include the fighting tops too?  Just wanted to know for the heck of it in case I may do one in that scheme sometime in the future.  Thanks!!!!

For the most part, yes. In 1941 she was in Standard Navy Gray coming out of overhaul in January through about the end of May, so you can do her in this scheme fairly easily (Leave off the radar platform on the forward fighting top and fill in the groove for it). Turret tops 1, 2, & 4 would have been red. We suspect that the superstructure decks were linoleum but have no verification; this suspicion is based on this photo (note the color of the deck the sailors are on). The linoleum may have also been in use at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, giving the option of a little more color to models. I went looking for information on this my last trip down but the area on Linoleum in the Pearl Harbor Shipyard files was essentially empty.

EdGrune

 

 

 

And to add one more layer of confusion to the anecdotal evidence ...

I was told of a visit of a USS Maryland veteran of Pearl Harbor to a hobby shop.    The owner asked the vet, what color was your ship on December 7?    The old gentleman walked over to the ModelMaster paint rack and picked up a bottle of Aircraft Interior Black.   As I'm sure you know,  interior black is a very very dark neutral gray.    Charcoal Gray would be another good description for it.

"I don't know, I was too busy climbing in and out of the damn thing".

Thanks again, Tracy.  I've got a couple of the 1/350 kits, so I may do one in std. navy gray.   And, bondoman, good one!!

That's actually turret #4 that you're seeing; the photo is looking aft. The darker deck is just wet. Note that the aircraft are gone and the port side railings have been dropped - standard for when aircraft were being launched.

That's a fine photo. It's a little interesting that #4 is trained to the side. I guess it's a staged picture because those dudes aren't going to be standing there if the guns are being fired. But it's LIFE after all.

Also notice the pipe railings are painted black. Very sharp. Looks like linoleum deck to me. There's a wear spot at the top of the ladder too.

You wash the decks down before lighting off the large-bore naval rifles, keeps the desk from charring from the flash.  You lower lifelines for similar reasons.

Tracy and others,

   Has it been confirmed that this is the Arizona? There are quite a few different colors of grays in that photo. I'm really interested in the dark grey on the top of number 3 turret. Most think it had no color other than the  overall grey.  BTW, the Trumpeter is a purist modelers nightmare. The kit looks great at first blush but it falls apart when the rivet counter like me gets serious. Yes...To most of you guys..."looks like the Arizona to me...".

   I'll be more specific if you guys have the stomach for it. These won't be the only things wrong with this kit, just only the first few pages. Still....I think this is a kit well worth $200. But it also needs a few hundred dollars of aftermarket add-ons and modeler's skill to get it close to being right...not that many will see the flaws. Most will be wowed with the final product.

Leftie

   Has it been confirmed that this is the Arizona? 

The caption at the Life site for the photo which Tracy linked identifies the ship as the Idaho.

Ed is correct; I wasn't trying to state that the ship in that photo was Arizona, just that some dark material, most likely linoleum, was used on some of the superstructure decks at least.

Leftie

There are quite a few different colors of grays in that photo. I'm really interested in the dark grey on the top of number 3 turret. Most think it had no color other than the  overall grey.  BTW, the Trumpeter is a purist modelers nightmare.

To my eye, from the unpainted wooden decks, and the white working dress the signalmen are in, I'd say this is a pre-war photo of USS Idaho.  So the darker horizontal and lighter vertical paint scheme would be correct.

The use of russet-leather colored linoleum on an all-weather metal deck like the signal platform is striking, too.  have to wonder if that linoleum was painted over in various deck colors per the Measures, as those  came into effect.  Or, if some form of blue-gray linoleum was installed instead.

I for one am intrigued with the idea of painting her in transition.  The interview with Arizona veteran, Mr. Bruner, who was on the paint crew said that they were in the process of repainting her, and that the hull and turrets were completed with 5S to me is compelling.  Now there's a run on sentence!  Tracy has gathered a great deal of information indicating orders that the fleet was in the process of color transition.  Finishing the model in the process of transition to 5S tells the story of a surprise attack and the history of the color changes to the fleet.  I hope Tracy can find the smoking gun but I suspect it has been lost to destruction and war.

This is one of the advantages to building the "other ships," AKA the auxiliaries, 1) Nobody really cares all that much, and 2) You can't hardly go wrong with "Paint everything gray."

My  

For my , I was reading Tracy's website several months ago, on the camoflage pages for Pearl Harbor in 1941, and on one of them (I think it was for the fleet in general) it stated that 5-S was to be used on all ships as per the new Measures, except the Battleships, which were to retain Measure 1 and substitute 5-S for 5-D as soon as was possible.  This was dependent upon the arrival of the new paint stocks and new tinting material stocks.  This could explain why the Helena, and others, were changed to new measures, while the battleships stayed as Measure 1 until after the first of the year 1942.  I may have mis-read the memo as I wasn't looking for that particular piece of information, but it kind of jumped out at me when I read it.  I don't remember the date of the memo, but it should have been second half of 1941, since that was the only time they were discussing the use of 5-S as a replacement for 5-D.  I must have looked at at least 30 memos that day, so I don't have a clue as to which specific section it was in.   But, if anyone is really interested, I am sure if you search all the memos Tracy has for Camoflage for Pearl Harbor in 1941, it should still be there!  

VERY NICE