The Ship Model Forum

Does anyone know what Tamiya TS spray paint approximates the Deck Blue used for USN decks on the MS21 paint scheme?

They've got French Blue, Metallic Blue, Mica Blue, Racing Blue, etc. and I have no idea which one to use. I'd prefer to use a spray can this time instead of buying the container that you have to use a brush from. Not sure if Testors has something either that approximates it either.

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"Haijun" means "navy" in Mandarin Chinese.

"You have enemies? Good. It means you stood up for something in your life."- Winston Churchill

I'd go with the darkest one you can find. I'm thinking TS64 Dark Mica Blue or TS 55 Dark Blue - whichever is darker.

However, you may wish to go for something a bit lighter to account of "scale effect" - a matter of personal taste, though.

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De quoi s'agit-il?

What did you end up using in the end for navy/deck blue?

I just ended just buying ready-made deck-blue coloured wooden decks on Ebay, such as the 1/700 wood deck mask for the Trumpeter Alabama.

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"Haijun" means "navy" in Mandarin Chinese.

"You have enemies? Good. It means you stood up for something in your life."- Winston Churchill

And what about other horizontal surfaces?

I was considering Mica blue per Timmy's suggestion or perhaps Tamiya medium blue.

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"Haijun" means "navy" in Mandarin Chinese.

"You have enemies? Good. It means you stood up for something in your life."- Winston Churchill

You guys need to realize that because we are talking about DECKS, they get a large amount of abuse. In general the more wear and tear in active service a ship has, the more faded the deck will look. On ships with wood decks, the perceived "color/shade" is different compared to the steel decks onboard large ships and on say destroyers. During yard periods, the deck was about the LAST thing painted so photos of ships fresh out of the yard look pretty dark. If you get a photo of a ship that has been at sea for several months, the deck will fade and be worn in spots with areas repainted (maybe just in a primer color) as repair to the surface. In some of the rare color photos, the well worn areas on decks on destroyers will take on a "brown" tint, I suspect from oil and dirt.

Basically what I'm trying to say is depending on how you are modeling your ship, the deck may vary a lot. Don't expect a ship to have a perfectly even deck color for long.

ALL horizontal surfaces like decks are suppose to be painted in Deck Blue and/or the camo color if in say a dazzle scheme.

Aren't they way to glossy?

Nothing a little dull/flat/matte clear coat at the end can't fix...

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De quoi s'agit-il?

Which color is the best in your opinion?
TS-50, TS-55, or TS-64?
For vertical surfaces you're using AS-8, right?

I tried all these and much more.
And I've found a perfect match!

Unfortunately, Tamiya dark blues (TS55/TS64) have sparkles in them, which are not fixable by matte coat. Besides, they are too saturated: the original deck blue seem much more grayish.
So, the best deck blue (provided you use Tamiya AS-8 as Navy Blue/Sea Blue) would be Testors Model Master FS15042 Gloss Dark Sea. It is glossy, but:

1. You can use some matte coat, which will dull it down
2. Deck blue WAS glossier than Sea/Navy blue, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War ... age_paints

I hope this helps somebody to save their money, unlike me
Peter

Hey Aekold,

Have you tried the Deck Blue analogue that Tamiya recommended on the instructions for the 1/700 Hamman kit?

The instructions, as you can see below, recommended XF50 Field Blue + XF9 Hull Red for the deck colour with a 2:1 ratio of the XF50 to XF9 in the mix.

While the scheme shown in the instructions below is MS12 instead of MS21, both use deck blue for their horizontal surfaces.

_________________
"Haijun" means "navy" in Mandarin Chinese.

"You have enemies? Good. It means you stood up for something in your life."- Winston Churchill

Obviously no, as it is not available as a spray. I'm sticking to Testor dark sea blue for USN decks