Yes, they are printed, but the color correction in this edition is legendary. Monogram used a five-color process to match the original BuAer lacquer chips. Compare the chip for Insignia Red (used on the national insignia) to any hobby paint—you will be shocked how "orange" the real red actually was.
Enter of the seminal reference series: The Official Monogram U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide . If Volume 1 covered the pioneering yellow wings of the 1930s, Volume 2 is the bloody, salty, sun-bleached saga of WWII and the dawn of the Jet Age. Yes, they are printed, but the color correction
If you want to paint an "average" Navy plane, go buy a hobby magazine. If you want to paint the Navy plane—the specific aircraft, on the specific day, from the specific squadron—you need Volume 2. Enter of the seminal reference series: The Official
Volume 2 specifically covers the tumultuous decade where the Navy went from biplanes to jets, from propellers to tailhooks, and from fragmented camouflage to a unified, global blue strategy. If you want to paint an "average" Navy
There is a fold-out chart in the back that cross-references every Navy aircraft model (TBM, F4U, F6F, PBY, PBM, etc.) with the exact date a given Measure was authorized. If you are building a Hellcat from the USS Lexington in May 1944, you know exactly which blue was on the factory floor.
When you hold this book, you are holding the actual standards that came out of the Bureau of Aeronautics. You are holding the directive that sent thousands of blue angels (lowercase 'a') screaming across the Pacific.