Trafalgar colours

[Linton]

I am making the WEM model of a Trafalgar.In various photographs the tiled skin doesn't always look black-sometimes it can even look pink/brown.Does anybody have any definitive information?Also what colour it the rotor of the pumpjet?

[DAB]

Not the easiest question to answer. The colour tends to change from Sub to Sub and from time to time, as the boffins at the MOD labs try out new things. One sub I think was recently painted Mediterrainen Blue to see if that camoflaged the submarine better in littorial opps.

My suggestion would be to go for a dark (near Black) grey for a depiction of an early Trafalgar, configered for Cold War Opps, moving to a slightly lighter grey with a blueish tint for a more modern colour scheme

[Linton]

Dab I dont suppose you could point me in the direction of a pantone or anything else such as a colour chart?I would like to give my model the look of a cold war era boat that has been in the water a while though I do quite like that new blue as well.

[lesrae]

DAB's right, the colours are always changing, the 'natural' colour of the anechoic tiles is a dark, matt grey. After maintenance, or between deployments RN boats get painted a glossy black.

HMS Torbay was recently painted blue in a trial and HMS Trenchant ran around for a while with light blue patches as part of a trial.

http://www.navynews.co.uk/articles/2006/0603/0603_images/0006033101ax.jpg

For a real 'used' look, try painting squares of rust all over, like Spartan at the end of her last deployment :O)

http://www.basemilitar.com.br/Artigo/HMS%20Spartan/HMS%20Spartan.htm

[Linton]

lesrae,thank you for that link.I saw it on the submariners site but had forgotten about it.It is a shame that spartan has been decomissioned.Do you have any pictures of similiarly weathered t-boats?Have you been to Raleigh to check on the Perisher listing?

[lesrae]

I'll look and see if I can find any other photos.

As for Raleigh, I'm changing jobs at the end of the month and won't have any reason to go there any more (I'll be dealing with the hardware onboard instead of the software), but I'll speak to a colleague down there and see if he'll help out.

[Linton]

Lesrae,many thanks for your help.It is now time for a close examination of the Humbrol paint catologue!