Paint color for a Greek Trireme

light grey and very dark grey---almost black

I think most of the ship would have been oiled wood, with paint only for decoration.  Oiled woods looked  darker than bare wood, and a bit glossier too.

Good question!  We need a studied historian to pipe up here!  It seems individual planking would require its own staining if the wood was indeed untreated, quite possibly even had it been preserved with oil as Don pointed out.  Any historical tidbits to support your statement Don?  (this is a question and not a challenge Don)

I cannot remember the book- it was on medieval ships.  It was NOT the book on galleys in Conways "History of the Ship series (I have that too).  The book I was thinking of, while talking about finishing on middle ages shipping said almost all ships of antiquity were painted only in decorations, the majority of hull above waterline was oiled, that below the waterline was "stuff", the protective finish used almost universally, and a mixture of lime and lard.  That seems to match the few paintings or other graphics existing of greek ships, though these are not of a quality to confirm whether they were oiled or not, but is at least consistant.  They were certainly not depicted as having vibrant colors on upper hull other than decoration.  Interestingly, it claimed that the most common oil used on ships was fish oil.  I guess they figured if it was good enough for the fishes, it was good enough for their ships :-)

Thank's for your response Don!  I believe you are a studied historian.  After posing the question to you here, I ventured on to the Revell 1/80 Viking ship photos and was most impressed by the paint work of docidle.  If my Heller Bireme Imperator ever becomes more than two hull halves glued and primed, I will have to give that wood finish technique a shot.  Being a "shipyard type", I was always curious as to the "snackability" aspect for aquatic critters when propeller hubs are filled with lard as is sometimes done.

f8sader

Thank's for your response Don!  I believe you are a studied historian.  After posing the question to you here, I ventured on to the Revell 1/80 Viking ship photos and was most impressed by the paint work of docidle.  If my Heller Bireme Imperator ever becomes more than two hull halves glued and primed, I will have to give that wood finish technique a shot.  Being a "shipyard type", I was always curious as to the "snackability" aspect for aquatic critters when propeller hubs are filled with lard as is sometimes done.

While I know early ships were mainly oiled, I do have an objection to modeling later (18th Century and later) ships with varnished hulls.  This is mainly done with those wood POB kits where planking is supplied in walnut or even more exotic woods.  They look very artistic that way, but if you are making an accurate replica I think they should be painted where the real ship was painted, and brass cannons and fittings finished to look like bronze. 

Lard & Lime are both acidic, which is probably inimical to teredo worms.

Also, if memory serves, "tallow" was the preferred medium; lard being specific to pork, and tallow referring to all the bovine adipose sources.

"Whiting" or "White Stuff" also, if memory serves rightly, contains lead or lead sugars, too.  Which would have discouraged ship borer worms.  

Using lard would give a surface poorly suited for the various kinds of adhesive sea-life that would impeded a hull, too.

That being said, the ships of antiquity probably were painted in some form of white lead.  This, since they were intended to be beached, and no special arrangement would be needed to careen them for hull cleaning.  Although, a slippery coating of lard might be handy for beaching on Mediterranean shingle (if less so over fine sand).

Homer speaks about the "black ships" in the Illiad; while Odysseus refers to the "crimson ships" in the Odyssey.  The black could be pitch or tar or as Don says,  which could be oiled wood.  As red was one of the easier colors to produce during ancient time, versus purple which took about 60,000 rotting snails to produce one pound of dye.  So it is possible to have black and red ships.  You have to remember, the history police won't come knocking on your door because you chose colors that may not be historical accurate as this is a hobby and we should be having fun!

There is a great model of the old Imai/Ertl/Academy Roman warship that Rod Millard did and can be seen on the Model Warship Gallery.  Do a search for Rod.  His others ships are beautiful as well.

Hope this helps Gunner,

Steve

CaptainMac82 gave me a clue.

A long time past I was reading a National Geographic from the 70s and they were rubbing the hull with a tallow based substance for lower hull preservation.

Then it stuck me.  In the middle east the Arabs still use a "Dhow", a wooden lanteen rigged sailing ship that is about the same displacement and size as the 500 BC Greek Trireme.  

If the wood isn't varnished then the Dhow's tend to look very dark grey, almost a flat black with a shade of grey.  There are lots of pictures of them on the web.    

Note, the Trireme may not have had a preservative on the lower hull.  From what I've read on them they were usually dragged out of water if chance allowed.  The crews treated the Triremes like racing skiffs so the lighter and cleaner ships had a better chance in battle.    

"Also, if memory serves, "tallow" was the preferred medium; lard being specific to pork, and tallow referring to all the bovine adipose sources."

Yes you are correct!  Tallow is the material that is used in the propeller hubs.  I quite incorrectly substituted lard for tallow when I posted.