Color: British Battleship Grey

**ReducedAirFact** · 09-03-2021 11:10

A lot of British planes used Battleship Grey color over the metal panels and sometimes the struts, booms, and even fabric. The source for the colors are various Windsock Datafiles, e.g. 2,4,6,8,14,26, and 28.

The usual caveats: As always, there was frequently variation in paint color, weathering, varnishing, etc., so this is just a general guide. Unless you've got a high-end, wide-gamut monitor in perfect calibration (and who does?), do not trust the colors you see on your monitor! Instead, visit your local paint store and see if you can find paint samples like the ones listed below and then match your hobby paints or mixes against those. The goal is just to "get close". See 'Color: why we'll never get it exactly right'.

Entries with an asterisk (*) are excellent matches; entries with question marks (?) have not been formally measured with a color meter and are therefore unconfirmed; hobby paints with tildes (~) are just very rough matches...the best we can do without a custom color mix.

Methuen/CIElab	House Paints and Standards	Hobby Paints
LAB 83.9,-0.6,4.7 RGB#D3D1C8	Beauti-Tone Lady Nichole 0030, Chincoteague FD048-0, or Lookout Harbor CH34-0 * Behr Eon N370-2 Cloverdale Snowy Owl EX226 Dulux Awakening Feel 82YY 67/046, Dusted Moss or Pebble Shore Dutch Boy Ashen Gray Farrow & Ball Ammonite 274 Glidden Natural Sliver Wool 70YY 63/045 Little Green Fescue FS595c 36622 Kelley-Moore Greybeard 4940 Olympic Quill D16-2 PPG Fog 1010-2 RAL Design Celery White 100 85 05 RAL Classic Grey white 9002 * Sherwin-Williams Big Chill 7648 Valspar Tempred Grey 4004-1A	Vallejo Model Color Silvergrey 70.883 ~ Humbrol Matt Light Grey 147 Model Master 1452 Testors 1290 Tamiya 80316, XF16 Reaper MSP Misty Grey 9090
LAB 74.1,-1.1,4.4 RGB#B7B7AE	Beauti-Tone/Cloverdale Fossilized 0581/D34-5-0581-0 Behr Weathered Moss N380-3 * Benjamin-Moore Sea Haze 2137-50 Dulux/Glidden Aged Stucco 70YY 46/053 Dutch Boy Route 66 Farrow & Ball Lamp Room Gray 88 FS595c 16440 Kelley-Moore Old Grey Mare 4949 Olympic Palm Frond D65-3 Pantone 413C PPG Gray Stone 1009-4 RAL Effect 850-2, Classic Silk Grey 7044 * Sherwin-Williams Chelsea Gray 2850 Valspar Granite Dust 5006-1C	Vallejo 70.898 Sky Grey * Humbrol Camouflage Grey 28 Model Master 1406 Testors 1233 Reaper Weathered Stone 9087
LAB 75.7,-4.1,7.8 RGB#B7BCAC	Beauti-Tone Chalk Plaster CH42-0 ~ Behr Urban Nature S380-3 * Benjamin-Moore Aganthus Green 472 Cloverdale Sea Foam CA175 Dulux/Glidden Silver Lace Vine 10GY 49/081 Farrow & Ball Mizzle 266 FS595c 26408 ~ Kelley-Moore Healing Retreat 4795 Olympic Kiwi Kissed C66-3 Pantone 7537 PPG Misty Meadow 1031-2 Sherwin-Williams Contented 6191 ~ Valspar Nuance 5005-3C	~ Vallejo 70.989 Sky Grey ~ Humbrol Camouflage Grey 28 ~ Model Master 1926 ~ Testors 1233 ~ Reaper 9290 Aircraft Grey

Color matching with 1989 Methuen Handbook of Color and Nix Color sensor

**malachi** · 09-04-2021 01:39

Thanks, Daryl! I added a few more Vallejo and Reaper to the toolbox.

**zenlizard** · 09-04-2021 10:15

Good to know, Daryl, though I almost always custom mix my colors. Sometimes, though, it's just way easier & quicker to go with stock, and for those times, information like this is invaluable.