U.S. Navy Ship Colors - early 1950s

[mynameismatt]

Ok, I'm a plane guy and a complete noobie when it comes to ships. I'm building a 1/700 CA-71 Quincy for my my Grandfather who served on it in the early 1950s. I couple of questions...

1. What would be the colors used? I see lots of info on wwii camo, but I can't seem to find what I need for the post war years. Would the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the ship be 2 different colors?

2. Would the teak deck be "teak" wood color - our would that have also been painted?

Sorry if these are ridiculous questions - but help a guy out if you could. thanks!

[Tracy White]

Here's a little too much information, just so you know a little bit to avoid buying the wrong paint. At the beginning of WWII the Navy was using paints based on a purple-blue tinting paste. Essentially, they were all mixed from the same paste, just in different ratios. So the "5-H Haze Gray" paint used at the time is different than today's modern "Haze Gray" that is FS 16270/26270/36270 (which is the one you want). Shortage in blue pigments caused the navy to reformulate for neutral colors starting in early 1945, so within a year or so of the end of the way most ships would have been repainted in the neutrals.

Metal decks post war were Deck Gray, in modern colors Model Master Engine Gray, FS 36076 is a close match for fresh paint and Gunship Gray FS 36118 is a good match for faded and weathered decks. Immediately post-war I'm not as sure about - I use White Ensign Paints (Available in the US from FreeTime Hobbies (Deck Gray #20 1945 Neutral) and MidTenn Hobbies (Deck Gray #20 1945 Neutral) which are matched to the original specs specifically so I don't have to worry about it as much.

Wood decks were unpainted after the war and were teak wood.

Edited May 24, 2014 by Tracy White