Snyder and Short Enterprises
Reviewed by Timothy Dike
A frequent question we get here on ModelWarships.com is. What colors did you use to paint your ship? The simple answer is that I have yet to find a perfect match for more than a couple colors right out of the bottle. If you want to do it right, your going to have to mix it yourself. That's where these chip sets really comes in handy. This set covers the US Navy WW II ship colors from the prewar days to 1945. They include a few variations of the colors that occurred over the war years, including three versions of Sea Blue based on the differences in yard and the 1929 Munsell Book of Color.
Card One includes PreWar and Early War colors such as:
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  • #5 Standard Navy Gray (1937)
  • #20 Standard Deck Gray
  • 5-L Light Gray (Early 41)
  • 5-0 Ocean Gray (Early 41)
  • 5-D Dark Gray (Early 41)
  • 5-H Haze Gray (Late 41)
  • 5-O Ocean Gray (Late 41)
  • Cavite Blue (Late 41)
  • 5-S Sea Blue (Late 41)
  • 5-S Sea Blue B (Late 41)
  • 5-S Sea Blue C (Late 41)
Set two is the later colors.
  • 5-N Navy Blue  (Late 41)
  • 5-B Thayer Blue (Late 41)
  • 20B Deck Blue (1941)
  • 20B Revised Deck Blue (1942)
  • 250N Norfolk Flight Deck Stain
  • Flight Deck Stain 21
  • #82 Black (1943)
  • 5-P Pale Gray (1943)
  • 5-L Light Gray (1943)
These paint chip are actual painted patches using real paint, not simply printed colors. Printing technology today falls short of being able to consistently match colors, so this is the best method to reproduce the colors. The cards themselves are 8-1/2" x 11" heavy stock with individual colors painted on self adhesive patched that are then applied to the card. I keep mine in sheet protectors in a binder for handy reference. 

I like to lighten my colors slightly for scale effect, but to give me a starting point I use these chips and then add a drop or two of white. I cant help but recommend this set, it is the best reference available for matching colors for US Navy ships of WW II. It has an $18.00 retail price but is worth every penny, get one!
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