White Ensign Models' WWII Royal Navy Colourcoats Paint First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

White Ensign Models continues to expand their range of naval Colourcoats color-matched enamels that are produced in Humrol/Xtracolor styled tins. In this installment, we'll look at their current line-up of ship colors that are color-matched to the Snyder & Short Royal Navy paint chips.

The true test is to compare the colors against actual paint chips. As I've mentioned before, Snyder & Short produced two sets of chips that covered the Royal Navy of WWII. Since White Ensign Models applies the colors contained in the tins to their lids, it was a simple task to set each color against its corresponding paint chip to see how well they match. As you can see in these photographs (and to no great surprise), they match nicely.

In their Royal Navy line of matched colors:

• RN01 - AP 507A Dark Gray
• RN02 - AP 507B Medium Gray
• RN03 - AP 507C Light Gray
• RN04 - MS1
• RN05 - MS2
• RN06 - MS3
• RN07 - B5 Dark Blue-Gray
• RN08 - Western Approaches Blue
• RN09 - Western Approaches Green
• RN10 - White
• RN11 - B6
• RN12 - MS4
• RN13 - MS4a
• RN14 - G45
• RN15 - B15
• RN16 - B20
• RN17 - B55 (1943)
• RN18 - Mountbatten Pink (light)
• RN19 - RN Anti-Fouling Red
• RN20 - B55 Late War
• RN21 - B30 Blue-Green
• RN22 - G5 Extra Dark Gray
• RN23 - G10 Dark Gray
• RN24 - Corticene
• RN25 - G20 Medium Grey-Green
• RN26 - RN Buff

Not a bad variety of colors and this line-up appears to be growing. Stand by for more good things from White Ensign Models! What's nice about the tins is that their shelf life is generally longer.

You can purchase these and any of the Colourcoat line directly from the White Ensign Models website. They have great service and are a unique resource for the ship modeler - give them a try!

My sincere thanks to White Ensign Models for these review samples!