UA647 - Imperial Japanese Navy Linoleum Deck

The linoleum deck of Japanese ships

The acrylic paint Imperial Japanese Navy Linoleum Deck is intended for the horizontal surfaces of models of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The warm brown tone corresponds to the deck covering that appeared on a number of units instead of wooden planking and that gives Japanese ships their characteristic look from above.

Why the deck is neither gray nor wooden

The choice of deck covering was a practical matter. The covering had to stand the traffic of the crew, be durable and at the same time not burden the ship more than necessary. In color a pronounced contrast therefore arose: above the gray side spreads a warm brown area, divided moreover by the metal strips holding the covering in place. It is precisely this difference between a cool gray and a warm brown that makes Japanese ships so readable on a model, and it is one of the reasons why a deck tone cannot be replaced by an ordinary brown from a ground-vehicle palette.

Working with the area

A deck is a large continuous area and a uniform tone looks artificial on it. It pays to work with small deviations between the individual fields, to darken the places by the superstructures and, on the contrary, to lighten the exposed parts a little. The division by metal strips is worth laying out in advance, because it is what sets the rhythm of the whole area. Around the deck fittings it is good to deepen the tone slightly, so that the details stand out. On models in smaller scales it is enough to suggest the main fields and transitions, because fine deviations would merge into one impression in the result anyway.

Where the color is used

• The decks of Japanese cruisers and destroyers
• Horizontal surfaces with a covering instead of wood
• A contrasting complement to the arsenal grays
• A ship diorama with a view from above