U.S.S. Arizona paint colors.

[caudleryan]

My brother is building the Trumpeter 1/200 Arizona. He has it in his mind that it was painted navy blue.

Somehow, that just doesn't seem right to me. I could be wrong as I don't know squat about ships. So, I need to know what colors she wore on Dec. 7, 1941. Were the front gun turrets painted red on the top?

What about the tripods? I already have hull red. What would the topside color be? I would like to see him build it right, so any info or help would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to post some pics later on this week if I can.

RYAN.

[Av8fan]

Edit..hmm..looks like the ship builders have as many issues as the aircraft modelers.

I did a quick google and came up with a few discussions.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Av8fan

[rightwinger26]

And let the debate rekindle:). The tops of turrets 1,2 and 4 were red.

[Grey Ghost 531]

In November of '41 the Arizona was definately painted in Measure 1, Dark gray 5-D up to the level of the top of the funnel and then light gray 5-L above that, decks were probably unpainted wood.

She went into drydock after a minor collision and some sources think she may have come out painted sea blue 5-S. There is a lot of conflict on this among historians. There was a Navy order sent out in October to phase out the dark gray scheme in favor of the sea blue scheme but there's doubt about whether the stocks of paint needed to implement the change could have gotten to Pearl Harbor in time for Arizona to be painted. There's no known documentation to prove either way as all those records seem to have been disposed of some time late in the war.

All the living veterans have been asked but they can't confirm whether Arizona was the dark bluish gray of 5-D or the dark grayish blue of 5-S. You can go either way and there's no one who can presently say you're wrong. I think the 5-D/5-L of measure 1 looks better, myself.

[Tracy White]

Aloha - I'm one of the guys doing primary research on this subject at the National Archives. I've posted a lot of my research finds here for people to read, if they have the interest. If you want the condensed version of "we don't know," I have a blog post here that outlines a lot of the finds and remaining mysteries.

There's two thoughts to this, as it pertains to your model. I come from the philosophy where I want to get it "right" and that's one reason why I am paying for all of the research trips out of my own pocket. However, while a proper salute to the crew is desired, I believe that those sailors who burned to death during the explosion or later probably didn't care what color the paint that was combusting with them was. My belief is that they would be happy to see a well-built model of their ship, regardless of the color, and that if you really want to pay your respects, build it in any of the possible schemes and be mindful of the human heart to the ship in the future as you and your model's viewers look upon her.

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

Let me add to Tracy's well-informed commentary, as the research he does is tremendous. I can tell you what the living survivors have said. I once asked 6-7 of them who were gathered in one room about the repainting; she was done in the dark gray in roughly June'41 at Bremerton. Every one of them remembers a repaint to a lighter, bluish color in drydock early November '41 (while drydocked for collision repairs). All of them.

"You remember," said Lauren Bruner to another, "they were hauling it up in 5-gallon cans by crane in a cargo net. It took about three coats to cover up the old color; boy, it was awful!"

"They even had us mess cooks out there painting," said Clare Hetrick. "They were passing it down to us in pails."

Lonnie Cook told me about how he was in a hurry to finish his area since he couldn't go on liberty until it was done. So, he and a buddy just poured the paint out of the pails and spread it out with mops! The next day, he says, the area was hosed down, and since the paint wasn't applied properly or thinly, a lot of it washed away in sheets. He says he got in pretty hot water over that.

Later that day Lonnie Cook and I met up in the parking lot, and he said "You know, I've been thinking about that color we painted the ship. It was a light blue-gray," he pointed to a Lincoln Continental car in a pearly light-blue shade of paint "a lot like that there. Not exactly like it, but a lot like it."

Another time when Lauren Bruner was the only survivor in attendance, I asked him if the whole ship was painted, since a lot of the wreckage photos seem to show the old dark gray paint on the mainmast. "No, just the hull and the turrets."

I was stunned. I then asked for more specifics. "What about around the casemates below the boat deck?"

He chuckled, "Oh, I don't know. That wasn't my area!"

And this is the evidence I've got to go on for now. For years I felt like the most confused guy in the world, gravitating between the dark gray and blue-gray camps. Finally, after many years of questioning the guys, I am now firmly convinced that at least a partial repaint in 5S did occur. The fact that ALL of them remember it as opposed to contradicting memories is a huge factor to me.

Just my $.05, but from good sources.

Oh, and the decks were DEFINITELY unpainted.

Edited May 24, 2013 by Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy

[caudleryan]

I want to thank everyone for the excellent advice and help. Sadly, this model is no more. It fell victim to a collapsed shelf.