Calling all RN/Polish Navy Danae-class (ORP Dragon) fans

[Filipe Ramires]

Greetings all

Given that I am again in a cruiser mood lately and after having HMS York finished and now being under repair due to post-model-show "damage" I am on into another RN cruiser. This time I am having a go with the Niko ORP Conrad for which I intend to back date her to the final version of WWII of the ship still as HMS Danae. I have a good idea of her upgrades during the war however I have seen only a couple of photos of her in camo scheme (apparently a 3 colour scheme) and have no idea of what colours they might be. Any ideas?
Cheers,

Filipe

[Quincy]

Hi Filipe:

Warship Perspectives Camo Vol. 3. 1943-44

Danae in her late'43 camo pattern that used G5, B30 an B55. In her '43 configuration she had two quadruple pom poms fitted amidships, a twin 4" mount fitted aft and four twin 20mm fitted.

Wood decks: may have been painted bit definite data is lacking.

Gunshield roofs:

A,B and Q- medium tone
X- light gray


Hopefully this is the info you're looking for.


Bob Pink.

[Filipe Ramires]

Ahhh, lovely!!! Very useful the colours indeed. That brings some light to the painting job. The photos I've seen show the startboardside of the ship. Does the book you mention shows the portside? Wondering if they are equal in both sides...which I doubt seriously.
Good luck with your HMS projects. I might consider starting an E class DD in the meantime as well...I have a few of them on my sights to build!!!!
Cheers Bob.

Filipe

[Quincy]

Hi Filipe:

The port side is not equal to the starboard side. The camo pattern looks more of a slopeing type than the starboard if this makes any sense?




Bob Pink.

[Quincy]

Port side was not the same. It had a more wavy pattern than the starboard.


Bob Pink.

[Gone Asiatic]

Greetings all

Given that I am again in a cruiser mood lately and after having HMS York finished and now being under repair due to post-model-show "damage" I am on into another RN cruiser. This time I am having a go with the Niko ORP Conrad for which I intend to back date her to the final version of WWII of the ship still as HMS Danae. I have a good idea of her upgrades during the war however I have seen only a couple of photos of her in camo scheme (apparently a 3 colour scheme) and have no idea of what colours they might be. Any ideas?
Cheers,
Filipe

Dude! I`ve got the Niko Models Conrad for exactly the same purpose, though I intend a 1942 build.

[Quincy]

Hi GoneAsiatic:

If your needing the 1942 camo pattern here it is: Warship Perspectives Vol. 2 1942


Danae as in July 1942 in an interesting design the colors of which are unknown, but were probably medium and light gray. The third color was definitely black. The side colors were carried across the decks at 90 degrees to the center line where the side panels touched the deck edge. The port side pattern was identical.


Hope this will help you out.



Bob Pink.

[Filipe Ramires]

Interesting stuff indeed. So we might be seing two different camo schemes for Danae then? The only photos I have seen of her in camo scheme are the following ones:



This image shows Danae in the middle and with the Mauritius leading and Arethusa in last. Any idea of the approximate date of the photo? From what I have dig so far Danae was with Mauritius in 1942 in the Indian Ocean Force.



Same camo scheme but from a different angle and occasion.

[Tim Stoneman]

The upper picture shows part of the bombardment force on its way to Normandy for Operation NEPTUNE - the date is variously given as 3 June 1944 or 5 June - take your pick.

Raven's book does indeed show two different schemes for DANAE.

[Filipe Ramires]

Hmm, cheers Tim. That's the camo scheme I am intending to do in Danae. This pretty much solves some things. Now I just have to find the proper colours to paint her...but first the ever lasting job of building and overdetailing her.
Any other suggestions?
Cheers,

Filipe

[Filipe Ramires]

Another photo of Danae during WWII but already as ORP Conrad. Little or no modifications were done to her when she was loaned to the Polish Navy but the camouflage scheme is a more simple and typical late war one:



Cheers,

Filipe

[maxim]

There are now several D class light cruiser kits available in 1/700:

ORP Conrad (ex HMS Danae) by Niko Models
ORP Dragon 1943 (ex HMS Dragon) by HP Models
ORP Conrad 1945 (ex HMS Danae) by HP Models
HMS Delhi 1942 by HP Models
HMS Danae 1918 by HP Models
HMS Durban 1919 by HP Models

I am planing to built a new model of the Polish light cruiser ORP Dragon since years, but now I have started using the ORP Conrad kit by Niko Models. There are some changes necessary for her 1944 fit, e.g. the PomPom directors have to be replaced by 20 mm Oerlikon. Also the bridge is wrong for Dragon, especially the upper forward part, but probably also the rear end of the bridge.

Very strange are the deck colours usually mentioned: wooded, non-painted decks plus blueish steel decks. Is this realistic for 1944!?

[Artoor]

You still need color scheme? I have quite detailed book about polish cruiser.

[maxim]

I have already built ORP Dragon:
ORP Dragon (1/700, Niko Model)

I assume that at least some of the colours are wrong - with all the new information about Royal Navy colours, which appeared since...