I have a general question about the color of carrier decks-- basically what color where they? #:-) This question arose after looking at the instrustion sheet of the USS Yorktown. It said to piaint the deck blue. This would make sense since it would "hide" the ship, but wouldn't it also make it harder to land on? #:-) All the pics I have seen are a natural wood color...any thoughts?

Sean

Most decks would be a Dark Grey and or Black in color after take offs and Landings.....

S.O.A.V.,

The color of the carrier deck would vary depending on the Class of the Carrier, Time period of the War and the Camoflage scheme or "Measure". Many ships of the same class carried different measures of camoflage during the same time period, it just depended on when they were in for a refit. The Enterprise and Yorktown carried different measures during the battle of Midway, but were the same class of ship so you may have to get down to the actual time frame for a specific hull number. Blue refers to a very dark Sea-Blue with a slight Black/Gray tint. Again, it depends on the above factors. Model Shipways makes great colors for ships and is available through ModelExpo. You can also obtain paint chips that have color samples too. PM me and I'll try to dig through my Navy History stuff and find you some pictures. Good Hunting Shipmate!

Dark grey or black would be the normal colors painted.

The US during WW2 used a blue stain on the decks. As time went by it would wear off. My recommendation is to paint you deck wood tan, then start lightly spraying the deck stain color on top. Landing and take off areas would be most worn, near the island would be darker with very little wear. Japanese used a dark tan to start with but there are some variations and some interesting camo scemes they used throughout war.

Chief and Blaster are on the money. American carriers in WWII had wooden flight decks to start, but in an effort to reduce their visual signature as observed from a distant reconnaissance aircraft, they were stained Navy Blue during the war. Modern carrier decks are made of metal and are coated with a substance which is a dark gray in color (almost black). These colors will fade, wear, weather, and stain as time goes on.

For info on WWII USN camo visit:

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/warship_camouflage.htm

For some cool pics of a WWII US aircraft carrier model with flight deck weathering visit:

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/cv/cv-09/350-mt/cv9-index.html

Hope this helps!

Todd