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Post by regiamarina on Aug 13, 2010 2:40:37 GMT -5
Hello All
new to the site and am looking forward to trying out the rules soon.
Been gaming with 1/2400 naval for a while and recently decided to move away from the Pacific and add British, French and Italian fleets for the Med. I am currently painting up my French and have noticed a lot of French ships have Red, White and Blue air recognition stripes painted on their B and X turrets but I can't find any actual information pertaining to this practise. I was just wondering what year this was introduced, was it universally applied to squadrons or just on a per ship basis. The only info I can garner seems to suggest it was applied to cruisers only not other ship classes so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Martin
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Bluebear
Commander
He who laughs
Posts: 405
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Post by Bluebear on Aug 13, 2010 4:59:39 GMT -5
Martin,
I'm guessing that you are concerned with WWII . . . but remember they have naval rules for Pre-Dreadnoughts (my interest) and WWI as well . . . so it is best to specify.
-- Jeff
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Post by regiamarina on Aug 13, 2010 20:35:23 GMT -5
Thanks good point. You are correct I was interested in the French fleet in WW2.
Martin
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Post by capndave on Aug 14, 2010 7:48:10 GMT -5
Most French vessels began the war with dark gray hulls and light gray upper works. Decks were a dark gray.
Later in the war they tended to adopt US or British schemes depending on where they were overhauled or with whom they were working.
The notable exception was the Gloire with her distinctive zebra stripe scheme.
Specifically I painted mine as early war. It gives them a distinct national color that is fairly easy to paint. Dark gray hulls and deck and light gray on everything above the deck line.
When I started painting naval vessel models I really discovered the meaning of the phrase "shades of gray."
Dave
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Post by regiamarina on Aug 15, 2010 0:17:41 GMT -5
Cheers for the help Dave.
I noticed that the French light grey was very similar to the Italian light grey early in the war so I thought the painted turrets may be as an air recognition thing for the Mediterranian theatre but have found no info anywhere on it other than photographs showing they were painted.
Martin
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Post by capndave on Aug 15, 2010 17:13:48 GMT -5
From what I understand, the Italians had a few spectacular incidents with their own Regia Aeronautica, so they opted for the distinctive "candy stripe" air recognition markings. Makes for neat paint jobs though don't they?
Friendly fire isn't.
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Post by regiamarina on Aug 16, 2010 1:13:56 GMT -5
Yes red and white candy stripes on the fore and even aft of some of the Italian ships is my next job after the French. Not sure I have a steady enough hand to paint these in 1/2400.
Martin
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Post by capndave on Aug 17, 2010 15:55:27 GMT -5
The wonderful thing about paint is it can be wiped off and redone!
Dave
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shigure
Commander
IJN Shigure
Posts: 356
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Post by shigure on Aug 17, 2010 16:51:29 GMT -5
Turret stripes were also painted to RN, KM, FN, & Italian Navy vessels involved in patrolling Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War. Italian submarines did sink a few Russian freighters and blamed it on rebel submarines.
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Post by regiamarina on Aug 18, 2010 0:12:18 GMT -5
I hadn't realised this. Were these turret stripes simply white or national markings? A little more colour to the hordes of grey won't go astray.
Martin
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shigure
Commander
IJN Shigure
Posts: 356
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Post by shigure on Aug 19, 2010 20:35:35 GMT -5
They were in national colors. The Germans were red, black and white I believe. The Italians were green, red, and white. The RN and FN used red, blue, and white, but probably reversed the colors depending upon the nationality. I have seen markings on the RN DD Cossack on 'B' gun mount. On one of the German PB's the colors were on the 'A' mount as it was on some of the German TB's engaged in the neutrality patrol.
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Post by nowfel on Jan 9, 2011 15:05:10 GMT -5
Turret stripes in national colours were only worn by Vichy ships.
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Post by regiamarina on Jan 10, 2011 7:57:37 GMT -5
Hadn't considered this possibility, cheers Nowfel. I do however have photos of French ships with turret markings dated from prior to the creation of Vichy France. I suppose it's likely that the Vichy ships kept the turret markings whereas Free French ships in Allied ports got a repaint much like the Richelieu after it's US refit.
I've painted the French ships now except for the Richelieu and Dunkerque and I must say the red, white and blue adds a nice splash to the generally pale gray ships.
Martin
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Post by fastgit on Jan 10, 2011 11:54:03 GMT -5
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