Painting a BB-63 Missouri

[Rubi]

Hello everyone i came back to the model kit world after many years and about to start building the BB-63 Missouri 1/350

At their site https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/78029missouri/index.htm the required colours are:

TS-6 Matt Black	85006	Hull waterline
TS-32 Haze Grey	85032	Superstructure
TS-33 Dull Red	85033	Bottom section of hull
TS-68 Wooden Deck Tan	85068	Deck areas

Unfortunately i cant find those colors in my country and amazon sellers wont send it to my country so i found a colour conversion tables

https://hobbylandbg.com/colourtable

I can buy Revell and Italeri colours over here but after looking at the tables i could not find a perfect match..

Do you guys have an idea which colour will fit to the original required colours?

Another question,each bottle contains 14ml only so how many bottles it usually takes for such a kit

I might also buy Tamiya Color Spray Paint 100 ml each from ebay but the shipping is extremely expensive..

Edited February 23, 2020 by Rubi

[Bob Cleek]

Given USS Missouri's long span of service, you may want to give some thought to the time at which she is portrayed by the model. That would determine the proper paint colors. I can't say whether Tamaya's indicated colors are historically accurate or not. As the saying goes, "there are many shades of grey." At some times, vertical surfaces were painted in one shade of grey, while horizontal surfaces were painted in another shade of grey. While the practice changed after the Pearl Harbor attack, until that time, the tops of the turrets of USN battleships were painted red, white, blue, black, and yellow with the colors of the multiple turrets on each ship following a code which served to identify which ship it was and which squadron to which it belonged for the purpose of identification from the air. USS Missouri was launched after this practice ceased, but the regulation colors and paint schemes of USN vessels changed continually during the many years of USS Missouri's active duty span. Certainly, her "shades of grey" changed significantly between her launch in 1944 and her service in the Gulf War! This link may give some helpful information: https://www.shipcamouflage.com/development_of_naval_camouflage.htm

Edited March 3, 2020 by Bob Cleek

[Hank]

Rubi,

I agree with Bob's advice - what era is your MISSOURI going to represent? WWII, Post WWII, Korean War, 1950's, or 1980's? That, by & large, will determine your paint scheme. Once you've determined that, we can chime in with help!

[rcweir]

The Floating Drydock's Plan Book for USS Missouri says that during her shakedown in 1944 the ship was Measure 32, Design 22D.  In January 1945, on her way to the Pacific, all vertical surfaces were repainted to Haze Gray (5-H), with a Navy Blue (5-N) band on the hull parallel to the waterline from the lowest point of the sheer down [to the boot topping].  All horizontal surfaces were Deck Blue (20-B).  And they say she finished the war with that pattern.  Later they say that some attempt was made before the surrender ceremony to strip the paint off the decks.  

 

Below the waterline was "Dark Anti-fouling Paint" with a 4 foot wide black boot topping.   Finally, the Floating Drydock's book says that in early 1946 the ship was painted Haze Gray on vertical surfaces and Deck Blue on the horizontals.  

 

Paul Stillwell, in "Battleship Missouri, An Illustrated History", mostly agrees with the above except that he is quite clear that the deck in the area of the signing was freshly painted with a dark blue paint "like the other decks".  Later he has a picture *after* the signing, on the way back to Pearl Harbor, of paint being stripped from the decks.  

 

 

[Hank]

Just as a matter of note: This MISSOURI painting question has been (and still is) an ongoing discussion over on The Ship Model Forum for YEARS!! There are a couple researchers on that forum who've delved into this question quite extensively as black & white photos and even color photos from the war years don't conclusively show how she (let alone hundreds of other ships) was painted. Deck logs are very helpful esp. if they mention particulars as to maintenance & upkeep or even dated painting details. U.S. Navy ship painting practices were in a constant state of flux prior to, during, and after the war - it was a fluid & dynamic situation. Much is still just now being learned about specific ship paint schemes, etc.

 

I also have one of the orig. TFD MISSOURI Plan Book's which I used extensively for my 1:200 scale NEW JERSEY model - but, it is only one source and MISSOURI was painted several times during the war. The comments in that booklet regard the original painting scheme "as built" only. As Paul Stillwell points out (he & I served together in NEW JERSEY in the late '60s) the deck areas on the stbd side were freshly painted for the Surrender Ceremony. And common practice prior to entering port (esp. during THAT particular instance) was to wash down and paint if able to do so. And those on the spot applications weren't always to spec....

 

Once again, we're all speculating here - the original poster Rubi has not replied as to his model's time & era, etc.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Hank