# Modern US Navy Carrier colors



## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

I'm sure a very simple question, but what colors do people like best for the modern US navy gray and also the color of the flight deck no-skid.

I usually work with testors enamel, but am curious to see what everybody likes.

Thanks


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## mactrek (Mar 30, 2004)

The non-skid on the flight deck is a very dark gray. I'd recommend Testors Euro-1 Gray.


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

mactrek said:


> The non-skid on the flight deck is a very dark gray. I'd recommend Testors Euro-1 Gray.


Thanks for your suggestion.
I did try that color (according to the paint suggestions on the 1/350 Nimitz instructions), after I originally posted this thread.

I found it to still a little light. I think it needs a little dark blue (exact color escapes me as I don't have the testors book infront of me) when I compared it to a bunch of photos.

I also tried the "Lt. Ghost Grey" from testors (which FS number matches up to the number also provided in the Nimitz instructions), not sure how I feel about this color yet.


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## mactrek (Mar 30, 2004)

Another thing to consider is that the non-skid is applied to the deck in sections ... Areas like the "L A", the "street" and the "six pack". As a result, there are differences in the shades of gray. As it applies to modeling the deck, there may also be changes in the strength and direction of the texturing.


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## GLU Sniffah (Apr 15, 2005)

mactrek said:


> Another thing to consider is that the non-skid is applied to the deck in sections ... Areas like the "L A", the "street" and the "six pack". As a result, there are differences in the shades of gray. As it applies to modeling the deck, there may also be changes in the strength and direction of the texturing.


 That's certainly true when the ship is underway.

During the yard periods, more often than not, the whole 4.5 acres gets a fresh application.

So I guess it depends on whether or not the ship being modelled is underway or fresh out of the yards!

That is an excellent point however about the non skid.

I'm modelling both the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Nimitz, since I served on both. Ike will be portrayed as underway with rust, crust and jet exhaust stains and Nimitz will be portrayed as shipyard fresh. I plan to put Ike in a resin 'sea' to further depict her underway status. Nimitz is in an enclosed case, much like a shipbuilder's model case.

Both kits are the Italeri 1/720th scale kits with parts cannibalized from Stennis and Harry Truman to modernize their sponsons/antennae/weapon systems to early 90's configurations.

I would suggest studying images in several different lighting conditions and remember to paint a shade lighter if the scale is small.

Nonskid when fresh is also different in color than nonskid which has seen some use. In 1/350th scale, it should be pretty easy to simulate different sections of skid and also jet fuel stains or hydraulic fluid stains. Heck, a guy could even model a FOD walkdown if he had enough deck personnel in that scale!


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

Hey GLU Sniffah,


What colors are you using?
I just tried a sample of Tamiya "Haze Gray" which someone said was 'right on'.
Wet, it looked great, but when dried it seemed way to dark.


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## GLU Sniffah (Apr 15, 2005)

Well, when I model, I tend to do things by eye. Believe it or not, I shoot regular acrylic craft paint you can get at Wal Mart for 98 cents a bottle. I thin it down 1:1 with water and shoot at about 35 psi with my old Badger single action. Of course, it helps to prime the plastic first with an acrylic and styrene - friendly primer. Plasticote? Works very well.

Colors? I look at photographs and work from memory of serving on these ships. The gray is not always uniform and the funny thing is is that in a foreign port, sometimes the starboard side will get a fresh coat of paint, while the port side still looks like hell!

So, I would experiment with mixing your own custom colors by eye. Dab a little of each mix on a similar surface to what you're painting, then let it dry. When you get the color you want, write down what mix achieved the results you were after. This is very trial and error, but with paint so cheap in this case, the only factor is the frustration one.

I've had good luck with Apple Barrell ( this is the brand of paint ) Dolphin Gray. You can mix this color up or down to get the shade you want. I have had very satisfactory results going this route. And this finish accepts Future acrylic floor stuff very well. Depending on how many thin coats you shoot, you can get a sheen from satin to gloss. Technically for a naval vessel it should be semi, but if your model is small, no sheen brighter than satin should be used...

Why do I do stuff this way? 

1. It's cheap.

2. It's easy to fix if you foul up!!

3. It's very low-odor, and so won't honk off your lungs OR your wife!

Hope this helped!


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

GLU Sniffah said:


> I'm modelling both the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Nimitz, since I served on both. Ike will be portrayed as underway with rust, crust and jet exhaust stains and Nimitz will be portrayed as shipyard fresh. I plan to put Ike in a resin 'sea' to further depict her underway status. Nimitz is in an enclosed case, much like a shipbuilder's model case.
> 
> Nonskid when fresh is also different in color than nonskid which has seen some use. In 1/350th scale, it should be pretty easy to simulate different sections of skid and also jet fuel stains or hydraulic fluid stains. Heck, a guy could even model a FOD walkdown if he had enough deck personnel in that scale!


 A couple of things. Wherever the TonCats are or were parked there will be hydraulic stains  Also if you are ubder way there will be spits where the non skid is worn especially down the landing path where the planes come to a halt and roll backwards. Also there is a diffrenece in a Pre F18 IKE and a Post F18 Ike on the port side of Number 1 cat. 

When were you on the IKE? I did the first workups with the IKE in VF14, then cruised on the IKe with VF143 in 1983

Roger Corrie
Virginia Becah, VA


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## Buc (Jan 20, 1999)

Hey!! Fellow Ike-ites! Cool!

Served on the old girl from 96-99! Have the kit on my
'to build' shelf along with other ships I served on. Just
gotta find time to build the dang things!!

(liked the hydraulic stains remarks... and agree, ya 
need lots of rubber laid down after the gal's been doing
flight ops for awhile!)

Buc


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## GLU Sniffah (Apr 15, 2005)

vaBcHRog said:


> A couple of things. Wherever the TonCats are or were parked there will be hydraulic stains  Also if you are ubder way there will be spits where the non skid is worn especially down the landing path where the planes come to a halt and roll backwards. Also there is a diffrenece in a Pre F18 IKE and a Post F18 Ike on the port side of Number 1 cat.
> 
> When were you on the IKE? I did the first workups with the IKE in VF14, then cruised on the IKe with VF143 in 1983
> 
> ...


 I was aboard from 1990 to 1992 as a SeaOpDet technician in AIMD supporting VAQ140.

IKE just went back into service this last spring as you probably know living in VA Beach. She's nice and purty now after her complex overhaul and refuel.

You cruised with the Pukin' Dogs? They were still part of CAG 7 when I deployed.

Nice note about nonskid wear from lowered and dragging tailhooks up between the waist cats.  I'd almost forgotten about that. I've been a modelbuilder since I was five and I was still well into it back then. I took a LOT of reference photos of the Flight Deck just so I could realistically emulate it at scale.


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## GLU Sniffah (Apr 15, 2005)

Buc said:


> Hey!! Fellow Ike-ites! Cool!
> 
> Served on the old girl from 96-99! Have the kit on my
> 'to build' shelf along with other ships I served on. Just
> ...


 That's right! As vaBchRog says, anywhere there's a Tomcat, there are hydraulic stains. I remember walking around and under them on the hangar deck on the way to chow. Not a ONE of those birds didn't have about 2 or 3 aluminum drain pans under 'em! Funny thing is that they don't tend to leak in flight.


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## Sistum Id (Feb 14, 2006)

off topic, i work in Reactor Department on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) which is in the yards in Newport News. 

anyways if u wanna make the ship as real as possible i would just take a big fat crap on the boat since carrier life is prolly the worst...just my 2 cents :hat: :freak: :thumbsup:


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## Capt Kirk (Mar 4, 2006)

I spent 3 years on Nimitz. The Navy calls it Battleship Gray. From what I saw of the non-skid, it seemed to be nothing more than sand mixed into the gray paint.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Of course you realize, if I want to make a realistic display for my Tomcat model, I have to ask you guys exactly WHERE to put the drip pans under it .


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## spe130 (Apr 13, 2004)

You'd think, after all these years, the USN would come up with a paint that would last under ocean conditions.

Anyone want to scan me a set of 1/350 WWII-era USS Missouri decals? :tongue:


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## Ohio_Southpaw (Apr 26, 2005)

John P said:


> Of course you realize, if I want to make a realistic display for my Tomcat model, I have to ask you guys exactly WHERE to put the drip pans under it .


Under each engine at the access doors midway on each. Under the main wheel wells and various points along the underbelly. Essentially any place fluid can leak...it does! Even with the drip pans, you'll still want to have the random hydraulic fluid puddle right there on the hangar deck!


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## Capt Kirk (Mar 4, 2006)

Line them up all under it! Just like an old Harley!


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## CaptFrank (Jan 29, 2005)

Did they empty the drip pans back into the planes?


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## drewid142 (Apr 23, 2004)

Here's a link to a carrier model I stared at for quite a while. It's an amazing build!

http://www.steelnavy.com/Tamiya350BigEpr.htm


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## Capt Kirk (Mar 4, 2006)

Capt Frank, they never emptied the fluid back into the Aircraft system. Too much chance of FOD (Foriegn Objsct Damage) to the system. Any dirt that had gotten into the fluid would tear up an actuator at the most inconvenient times. Most aircraft leaked some but others rained hydraulic fluid. The Navy's Hydraulic fluid was colored red, which makes it easy to spot a leak in the daytime. But at night aboard ship, only red lenses in the flashlights at night, so that makes it a real bitch to see them!


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