Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates

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Volkodav

The Bunker Group
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Storm Grey remains the proper grey for RAN units *sniff*.

And it can be grabbed at Bunnings, making touch ups easier no matter where the vessel is!
Nothing easy about navy paint systems. It's easier, in an engineering sense, to upgrade nav or coms systems.
 

ngatimozart

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Storm Grey remains the proper grey for RAN units *sniff*.

And it can be grabbed at Bunnings, making touch ups easier no matter where the vessel is!
It's the paint with the green tinge and makes RAN ships stand out like dogs balls. ;) Nah, the new paint is a lot better and should be longer lasting.BBut as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so we will have to wait and see.
 

DDG38

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Was down at FBE the other day and grabbed a pic of Hobart, Choules & Adelaide to contrast the old and new paint schemes. Personally I think the new grey looks way better, but the day of modern surveillance systems and sensors, ship camouflage is a bit of a mute point. ;)
20201118_093800edit.jpg
 

Systems Adict

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Storm Grey remains the proper grey for RAN units *sniff*.

And it can be grabbed at Bunnings, making touch ups easier no matter where the vessel is!

Unfortunately like many other things, we've decided that polluting the planet & the eco-systems of the oceans, that warships sail in, are more important than colour, with IMO Regs effectively making the changes to paint as far back as the early 2000's (so we're using water based paint, rather than 2-pack acrylic).

Downside is the ships need painted / touched up more often.

Then again, do y'all want the RAN fleet looking like the US Arleigh Burkes that have been on deployment for 8 / 9 months & look like they fought WW1 & 2 single handedly...?

For info, here's what the UK is tied to...

Warpaint

SA
 

Volkodav

The Bunker Group
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The other factor is the lighter colour, with reflective particles can make a significant difference to the amount of heat absorbed through painted structure and the amount of energy required for cooling (or even the effectiveness of cooling) in operational areas.
 

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
Then again, do y'all want the RAN fleet looking like the US Arleigh Burkes that have been on deployment for 8 / 9 months & look like they fought WW1 & 2 single handedly...?
I think we do pretty well, the Anzacs tend to paint themselves these days.

1606014902206.png
(image source wikipedia)

Saw this shot recently..
1606015085980.png

USS J.S McCain, JS Kirisame and HMAS Arunta - South China Sea

Admittedly JSM was just recently glued back together, but its the Australian ship that looks like it hasn't seen a dock in a decade, even though she has just come out of a major overhaul with the new mast.
 

ASSAIL

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
I think we do pretty well, the Anzacs tend to paint themselves these days.

View attachment 47812
(image source wikipedia)

Saw this shot recently..
View attachment 47813

USS J.S McCain, JS Kirisame and HMAS Arunta - South China Sea

Admittedly JSM was just recently glued back together, but its the Australian ship that looks like it hasn't seen a dock in a decade, even though she has just come out of a major overhaul with the new mast.
I’ve been banging on this drum ever since I was shocked when I saw the state of the first new CEAFAR mast arrive in Darwin.
In the above pic you can see the JMSDF ship with black painted funnel caps for good reason.
In the days of steam everything above, and including the masts, radars and funnel caps were painted black so that the efflux didn’t make us look like a Bombay Bum Boat.
It’s high time those masts changed to black, keeping them clean and smart is impossible.
 

DDG38

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
As long as the material state of the ship is good with a fully functioning ship's company, sensors and weapons systems, I couldn't give 2 flying fornications how tiddly the exterior of the ship looks. Fleet it too busy to spend a month alongside keeping everything spick and span. #workingnavy
 

ngatimozart

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@ASSAIL and @DDG38 are you two denizens of the wardroom going to throw down gauntlets at each other over tiddly ships? If so I take it that it'll be swords on the quarterdeck. In that case the gunner's mess will be running a book on it.
 

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
As long as the material state of the ship is good with a fully functioning ship's company, sensors and weapons systems, I couldn't give 2 flying fornications how tiddly the exterior of the ship looks. Fleet it too busy to spend a month alongside keeping everything spick and span. #workingnavy
Its a bit of design compromise. Obviously the Meko frigate design never envisaged having such a massive mast and radar structure in front of its exhaust funnels. Better radar. Dirtier radar.
 

ASSAIL

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
As long as the material state of the ship is good with a fully functioning ship's company, sensors and weapons systems, I couldn't give 2 flying fornications how tiddly the exterior of the ship looks. Fleet it too busy to spend a month alongside keeping everything spick and span. #workingnavy
Well I do care and ships are judged by their appearance.
Ships don’t need to spend months alongside to maintain their uppers.
Granted ships companies are smaller but what do you think the Chief Bosun's Mate’s (Buffer)job description is?
He’s there to ensure seamanship evolutions are professional and safe as directed by the Jimmy (XO) but he’s also responsible for the outward appearance of the ship, nothing more and nothing less.
How your ship presents is a reflection on how a “working navy” functions, it’s called pride!
 

spoz

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
And painting areas of masts in the way of funnel gases black as many other Navies do and as was once done, which would be a good first step, takes no longer than painting them grey. That bit is not about requiring more effort rather it is about thinking through potential issues and their solutions in advance.
 

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
UK has some interesting paint jobs.

1606083797824.png

I guess the question comes down to how much do you paint it black, and then won't it stand out and look very odd. Here on the UK Destroyers, they seem to only paint the trailing surface.

I would also assume the black paint would likely absorb more sun light energy. Maybe it can't be painted black?
Maybe black on the tail surface, dark grey at the sides, light grey at the front would be a compromise. I think that could look quite neat.

Also how big our Hull numbers? Were they always so comparatively massive.

I do like the look of the upgrade Anzacs. For a comparatively small ship, they look a lot beefier now. With their massive hot rodded radar, harpoons out the front and the new 5".

I wonder if its worth redesigning the funnels, the ovaloid curved pipes can't be good for radar signature, and I would assume something could be done in terms of flow.
 

ASSAIL

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
UK has some interesting paint jobs.

View attachment 47817

I guess the question comes down to how much do you paint it black, and then won't it stand out and look very odd. Here on the UK Destroyers, they seem to only paint the trailing surface.

I would also assume the black paint would likely absorb more sun light energy. Maybe it can't be painted black?
Maybe black on the tail surface, dark grey at the sides, light grey at the front would be a compromise. I think that could look quite neat.
The leading edges of the CEAFAR “dome” don’t have a problem so maybe the RN solution would be fine but you can see in your pic that everything aft of the exhausts is black.

The RAN previously used the RN pennant number style which was changed to the USN style in 1968/9 IIRC.
 

Takao

The Bunker Group
Nothing new in exhausts staining the masts; evening in the positioning of masts versus exhausts. The Royal Navy just painted everything above the funnel caps black. I know that black is better for reducing heat, so it should do well in our region.

HMCS Regina shows that camouflage works on a modern vessel, do that and paint everything above the funnel line black. It'll blend nicely.
 
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