Learn something every day. I thought USN "Insignia" white was white. An IPMS chart suggests a combination of 3 parts white with one part what looks to be unbleached white or even buff. Now that I look at it, when I stare at my sample in the Robert Archer book the white does look a little off. Not quite ready to blast my Avenger yet, and definitely like to get it right. Would this be matte or satin? Wiser heads?

Eric

I'd say that while it is a white, it's just a touch of an off-white, and more of a satin-matte finish if that makes any sense. Out of all the aircraft I have seen aboard Navy ships in the past ten years, and even the WWII aircraft I've seen, none of them have been that true "Hollywood starlet teeth white" or gloss (except for the nice shiny ones in the museums).

HTH

EDIT- Did a little research and found this mix, using Tamiya Acrylics:

For USN Insignia White, mix XF-2:10 + XF-55:1

Meaning 10 parts XF-2 to 1 part XF-55.

Eric, the color i think was ''Non specular white'' which means a matte one. White Ensign Models have this color
https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/c/US+NavyUSAAFUSMCUSAF/127/2/
It is AC US 10 (ENAMEL COLOR)

John

According to my information the color was "Insignia White" ANA 157 (September 43) 601. I guess there is no definitive chip for the color. What is unclear is whether it was matte or satin. I'd say the later based on photos but that's always a little unpredictable. I'd like to know more but I'm not sure anyone's carrier planes were dead matte although our early war craft look much more matte in color than the later war models. As I understand it, a flat surface is more vulnerable to wear and isn't optimal for flying. The Japanese waxed their CV aircraft at least early in the war. Both sides used NMS surfaces. I asked a WWII Army pilot once about NMS. He said that the USAAF by late 43 wasn't terribly interested in hiding. He also said at high altitude the contrails were a give away regardless. He also pointed out that that in the sky clouds reflect light around like crazy and that an "itty bitty dot" (his words) wasn't necessarily easier to see because it was silver or olive drab. I've seen so many films of WWII aircraft that I'm just not sure that they were normally dead matte: I'd say satin was pretty common especially when you add fluids and moisture into the picture. And it is a model. An AFV in war would have had a flat paint job, but the gurus of the "Spanish School" echo the techniques of older meisters like Tony Greenland and paint the upper surfaces satin and the lower dead flat and let the pigments make your eye work for a living. Anyway, I'm quite certain that "Insignia White" was actually a kind of light cream color. (The Archer book's excellent samples are printed on shinny white paper: the Insignia White is most definitely not shinny white. Odd I didn't notice that right away.) If nothing else, a bright white white would be an expensive paint as it is for a house.