Colors US WWII NAVY & MARINE Late War (1944-45)

S.U. NAVY & MARINE WW2 WORLD WAR II
Late War (1944-45)

A new change was introduced on 13 March 1944 which determined that all US Navy fighter aircraft switch to a single color of overall Glossy Sea Blue ANA 623 (it was added to the ANA palette in June 1944 and, oddly enough, to the non-spectacular rather than the gloss palette). This was made official on 7 October 1944 (BuAer Specification SR-2e which had been issued on 26 June) which probably explains why aircraft using the new scheme really only started to appear later in the year and in 1945. ANA 623 was a gloss version of ANA 607 which is believed to have been slightly darker on account of being determined with a precise pigment ratio as opposed to being approximated to a color swatch. Despite being a gloss paint, in combat it was highly prone to fading and losing its factory sheen. Its Federal Standard match is FS 15042 but it is important to note that ANA 623 changed formula in the post-war period (see below). Wartime ANA 623 had a more pronounced grayish tint and could be easily differentiated from the Insignia Blue of the national insignia, even after freshly painted and even more so after fading. From this period on, it was common for Grumman aircraft (most Hellcats and some Avengers) to ignore the blue parts of the national insignia, painting only the white star and bars. All other manufacturers painted the insignia in full.
The new single-tone never fully replaced the preceding three-tone scheme, particularly on TBF Avengers and (to a lesser extent) SB2C Helldivers. It also did not apply to many other types of USN aircraft such as anti-submarine, patrol, patrol bombers, and surveillance aircraft which retained their existing non-spectacular, multi-tone schemes. Notably, ANA 623 was retained on many Lend-Lease aircraft (mainly Hellcats and Corsairs) used by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, this being the only USN scheme that was ever adopted on FAA aircraft during the war.
Paint guide:
• Glossy Sea Blue ANA 623: Only colors matching ANA 623 or FS 15042 are included here without parenthesis. Gunze’s Midnight Blue (H55 / C71) is a very good match for ANA 623 despite the odd name, but being that it is specifically referenced to as a WW2 USN paint it is clear this was their intended match. C365 is also available from a USN set and is also matched to FS 15042 but I have not tested it to see if it is significantly different. Other than that, paint ranges with separate Sea Blue and Dark Sea Blue colors are considered ANA 607 and ANA 623 respectively and the latter are included here.

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