Late US Navy Paint Set

The deck, the sky and six tones of blue-gray

American naval aviation went through a great change of finishes within a few years. From a varied three-tone scheme it moved to a uniform dark sea blue, which after the war was replaced by a pair of gull grays. This set contains the shades for both stages at once, so from one package you can build a machine from the end of the war and an aircraft from the 1950s.

The package holds a dark sea blue for the upper surfaces, an intermediate blue for the transitional bands, a darker and a lighter gull gray, white for the national insignia and the undersides, and a green tone for the cockpit and the landing gear bays. The composition covers carrier fighters, torpedo and patrol machines alike.

Properties

• six bottles of acrylic paint in one package
• prepared for an airbrush and, once thinned, for a brush as well
• a flat finish suitable under glazes and pigments
• the interior green is part of the set, so it does not have to be bought separately

Advice on application

The dark sea blue is very rich and in a heavier coat it fills fine panel lines. Spray it in thin coats and let them dry in between. The light gull grays, on the contrary, need a white or gray base, otherwise the color of the plastic shows through them. On late machines it suits to lighten the surface slightly, because naval aircraft faded quickly at sea. The transition between the individual bands of blue is drawn freehand at reduced pressure; no mask is used for it.