US Navy camouflage measures of WW2, from pre war 1930's to post war 1946

[@ut000bs]

You did an awesome job. Measure 21 was always my favorite wartime camouflage but I was always sort of gothic, I suppose. My father had a really good color picture of his destroyer in a floating drydock right after it had been repainted in 21. I have no idea what happened to that photograph. It would have been a great picture to share online today. Thank you for taking the time for this in-depth and well presented video. Again, it is an awesome job. I have been a hobbyist World War II historian and all-around information gatherer for over 50 years and work such as this is needed and hugely appreciated.

[@navybowie]

@ut000bs wow thank you so very much,so glad you liked it and thank you so much for the kind words

[@ut000bs]

@@navybowie I'll make a few pointers to this video to a few people. I hope it gets you a some views and perhaps a couple more subscribers. Thanks again.

[@davidlavigne207]

Remarkable. It explains the many variations to camouflage measures in the many photos I see of WW2 ships. Bewildering array. I wonder did it fool the enemy at any time?

[@FastFatman]

Exceptionally well researched and presented. A must have guide for hobby modelers of these WW2 ships. Thank you sir!

[@navybowie]

@FastFatman thank you so very much, so glad you enjoyed it

[@tonyInPA]

Great video, you actually hit the nail in the head towards the end with the depiction of the Iowa class battleships listed, including Iowa and Missouri. I’m not familiar with the documentation they have, but New Jersey does have some documentation of measure 21 being used first, and then measure 22 in 1945.

[@navybowie]

@tonyInPA thank you so much, my previous video didn't include any battleships, I actually had to build them just for the video cause I knew they were desperately needed

[@rdjhardy]

Great video. Thank you.

[@Plaprad]

Excellent work. It's amazing how much paint alone it takes to run a fleet. And the Alabama looks great in #12.

[@navybowie]

@Plaprad thank you do much, yes it's definitely amazing I agree the alabama does indeed look great in ms 12 mod.

[@ronandanne1]

The paint manufacturers must have loved the Navy in ww2 😅

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

Otherwise all else bare metal?

[@rafaelj.benero4880]

Thank you for all your work preparing this video!...

[@navybowie]

@rafaelj.benero4880 your very welcome, thank you for watching it

[@akosgergely6447]

Amazing job with the models, well done! Also nicely compiled.

[@navybowie]

@akosgergely6447 thank you so much, I definitely appreciate the compliments

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

Finally a video not entirely rehashed?

[@navybowie]

@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe yes indeed, thank you

[@acfangaming]

good photos, good explanation, quality content all around

[@navybowie]

@acfangaming thank you so very much, so glad to know

[@kentbarnes1955]

Excellent video. As a naval model builder I always appreciate such information. (Now if someone could produce a video on how to easily "mask" to paint some of the more...elaborate camo schemes...Mighty Mo had a cool one...but I've never been able to paint it).

[@navybowie]

@kentbarnes1955 thank you so much, glad you liked it I hear you, dazzle paint schemes are complicated on 3d model also

[@Nebris]

Excellent.

[@navybowie]

@@Nebris thank you so much

[@Allies_USA]

nice video mate

[@navybowie]

@@Allies_USA thank you so much

[@BillHalliwell]

G’day, A most impressive video. I particularly like the effort you put into your illustrations of the many ships which were brilliant. My issue is with the thinking of the USN during this period. The Navy went to great lengths to experiment, trying to find the optimal camo scheme for their capital ships. Your video highlights the near desperate search for the most effective camouflage carried out by all combatant sides in the air, on the ground and at sea. Even before WW2 began, the RAF, for instance, were experimenting with light blue, even all pink Hurricanes and then Spitfires. I understand that, at sea, there are many varied optics due to sea state and weather conditions. Apart from the complex ‘dazzle’ schemes borrowed from the RN, an aircraft carrier, no matter how it’s painted pretty much looks like what it is. Some schemes might have been worthwhile when viewed, briefly, from a submarine’s periscope but, from the air, or viewed from another warship, for any prolonged time; it’s difficult to make a large warship look like it’s something else. Although, I liked the idea of a bow wave painted 20 or 30 feet back from the actual bow. I’m a military historian specialising in aviation and it’s easy to work out that in the decades since WW2 it’s been pretty much established that various shades of grey make for the best camo for modern aircraft; similarly, the USN and most other navies are clad in, basically, all ‘Haze Grey’ or shades close to it. In my spare time I’m a scale modeller and I still concentrate on WW2 aircraft as modern warplanes are visually ‘boring’ even though their liveries of grey are the most effective camo. During WW2 and onwards, perhaps the best aircraft camo were ‘night fighters’ painted all matt black. There was, initially, an unforeseen danger of all black aircraft flying in tight formations. They could easily collide with each other or inadvertently drop their bomb loads on each other. (A risk, by the way, with any bombers operating at night, no matter what their livery; as the RAF discovered over Europe.) Smaller squadrons of, for instance, black Catalinas and P-61s night flying around the Southern Asian theatres were particularly successful in ‘tailing’ Japanese convoys; picking ships off and flying away without being spotted. At first, the Japanese thought these losses were due to sea mines. Black aircraft also made swift raids on grounded bombers, and some fighters, in the middle of the night. This was a great tactic for aircraft if they stuck to the ‘night shift’. Not so much if one painted warships all black; especially on bright, sunny days. My studies, some years back showed me, as you would understand, that wartime camouflage was a huge, complex, experimental aspect of war that had to be applied to the entire range of new weapons, vehicles, buildings etc., as they were developed. It’s hard to believe now, given computer designed battlefield uniform camouflage; that at the very beginning of WW2 a large number of French troops went into action still wearing their old blue trousers with the big red stripe down each leg. Thank you for opening up this fascinating topic. Cheers, Bill H.

[@jdunlap2]

Re: desperate search. Actually there was no desperation. First of all, the US Navy simply had the wherewithal and logistical ability to enact the various measures that were tried during WWII.The only time they fell short was toward the end of the war when the shortage of blue pigment forced a change in the colors used in several measures. Second, the various measures were a response to the perceived threats at different times and locations. Early in the war, most measures emphasized blending overall colors to the light and atmospheric conditions in local theaters to make detection by surface vessels more difficult at longer ranges. Later, the so called “dazzle” measures were thought to make ranging and speed estimation more difficult for surface vessels, especially in the Pacific. These began to be used in late 1943, but by the end of 1944, most were being painted over as the IJN virtually ceased to exist by early 45, and the fact that these measures were difficult to maintain.

[@doodledangernoodle2517]

Hi! This is a really nice video! What program did you use to make and display the models? Did you model the entire hull, or just the waterline?

[@navybowie]

@doodledangernoodle2517 thank you very much, I use a program called sketchup and all my ships have full hulls, I don't believe in waterline models lol

[@doodledangernoodle2517]

@@navybowie Heck yeah. Waterline modeling is for cowards.

[@navybowie]

@@doodledangernoodle2517 heck ya absolutely true

[@DuckyFilms_YT]

nerd ahh video but good.

[@navybowie]

@@DuckyFilms_YT thank you