Hey everybody! I'm trying to get ahold of a copy of the new book on Italian naval camouflage in WWII called:
La Mimetizzazione delle Navi Italiane 1940-1945
by Erminio Bagnasco - Maurizio Brescia
Italian Navy Camouflage
Anyhoo, it is very difficult to find in the USA because it hasn't been published in English (only Italian), but, Randy from Snyder & Short (the famous paint guys) says he has sold it and can get it again if he can drum up some orders for it. So if you would also like to get your hands on this excellent book, complete with tons of line drawings of Italian ships and their intricate camo schemes, then drop him a line.
...and btw GHQ, you may want to think about offering some of these hard to find books for sale here, as they were practically written for guys like us.
Thanks for taking the initiative on this book request. I just sent over my e-mail request to Randy to stock this book for sale on the Snyder & Short website.
I hope they can offer it for sale.
I agree with you that if GHQ could offer these books, that would be a great idea too!
Okay, Randy replied today and said he can get the book and sell it for approx $72-75 and ship it for $5. That's better than I can do trying to order it from overseas!
Just received the book on Italian Navy camo in the mail on Friday. They have crammed quite a bit into this book, and a few pleasant surprises:
1. It has a final section written in English that is like a summary of the whole book.
2. It covers camo schemes used by all the navies of the world in WWII.
3. It covers the history of naval camo and the difference between camouflage and concealment schemes.
I was sorry to learn that my favorite Italian camo schemes didn't come about until after the major battles of Cape Spartivento (11/27/40) and Cape Matapan (03/28/41). The Italian navy started the war like everyone else in a standard scheme and then didn't begin using camo widespread until late 1941/42. Of course, I cannot resist doing up my future Italian fleet in some of the cool 1942 schemes they had, just doesn't seem right to leave them in their peace time light cinder gray.
It's amazing how much you can pick up in a book without even knowing the language. It's kinda fun - like code breaking.
Of course not every ship has a separate color plate defining how it was painted (some of the most notable missing ships are a few of the Zara class cruisers - but I'm sure I can find that info elsewhere), but they have so, so many plates - even some auxiliaries.
This book is definitely a major addition to my research library, and critical if you are going to do the Italian navy. There are a few other books out there for the Italians that would provide a well rounded view of the Italian navy, I just wish they would publish them in English as they have to do with the ships, tactics and war experiences, and for that I will need to know the language.
Check when the Zaras sunk. I think some of them went down before they received camouflage. It's not in the big Italian book (I call it the "B&B book" after the authors) , but a few years ago a book on Italialn BBs was put out; in that book (as I remember), there was some discussion regarding when the Italian Navy began camoflaging their first ships. From that data I got the impression that 2 or 3 Zaras were sunk B4 they would have been camoed. Also. some DDs and CLs.
I suspect that, if there was any more data on Italian camo, the B&B authors would have found it.
Yes, it appears to be why the two of the Zara's are not illustrated, because they were sunk a the Battle of Cape Matapan before Italy began wholesale camouflaging of her fleet. Zara and Pola went down without any camo, Fiume had been given a special test camo pattern upon which future schemes were patterned. Gorizia was not present at Matapan and survived to recieve a very complex pattern. It really appears so far that any ship not depicted, as you said, sank before being camouflaged, and most of the big battles occurred before Italy put widespread camo into use.
So I'll basically build the ships that sank in the standard pre-war scheme, and the rest will get the scheme that I like the most.
That's how I paint my navy too. If the ship, during some time in it's WW2 sevice wore a camo pattern I like, I will probably paint her up that way. But if the ship never received a camo scheme and was sunk in standard navy gray schemes, then that's what she will get.
There are so many awesome WW2 naval paint camo patterns for many navys. Unfortunately, many of them were never applied until most of the naval units already fought in their most famous naval battles. But I tend to ignore the notion that a ship model used in a wargame scenario "must" be in the exact paint scheme for that exact time period. Myfeeling is, if the ship wore an actual paint scheme during it's life in WW2, then the modeler should have the option to apply that camo pattern for use in the minatures naval battle regardless of the naval battle date. However, if it does match the camo scheme for the ship with the exact battle time frame...so much the better.
Just my thoughts.
By the way Chris, I really think your painted models look outstanding.
I know he went out of town at the beginning of the month but he's back now, so try again, or give him a call at the phone number listed on the website. They're in California so I'd try calling during normal business hours for PST.
