Cutty Sark Fire Buckets

Well, the answer to this one - like the answer to practically everything else about that ship - is on the George Campbell plans:  "Teak buckets, brass hoops, rope handles."  No paint.

The rack in which the buckets are mounted consists of a teak rail, mounted on turned teak stanchions, with each stanchion surmounted by a turned brass acorn.  The low bulkhead on which the railing sits is iron, "painted with white panels and teak surrounds."  I confess that's a little unclear to me, but it doesn't matter much.  Most of that bulkhead is concealed by the two boxes attached to the front of it.  Those are chicken coops.  (If I remember correctly, Revell did a pretty good job with them.  There's also a pig pen under the forecastle deck, on the port side.  The corresponding space on the starboard side is the paint locker.  They're probably not worth worrying about; the space under the forecastle deck is almost impossible to see on the finished model.)

Amazing set of plans.  I don't think I've encountered another one that describes the color scheme for the fire buckets. 

Here's a pic I took of the buckets last year, I assume their fairly historically accurate (sorry I can't see how to paste a picture on so I've used a link instead and hope it works). http://community.webshots.com/photo/224657237/1225276168055373913jccDvC

I would have thought that the buckets would have been replaced several times over the life of the ship and they may have often been repainted in new colours according to the whim of the captain or the availability of paint etc.?

Hope this helps and all the best.

I wasn't able to get the link to work, but I'm sure jamiemcginlay is right.  Fire buckets are the sort of thing that would be replaced fairly frequently - probably purchased from a ship chandler ready for use.  Mr. Campbell's plans show the ship as she was finished, in 1870. At that time, I think, the old-fashioned cooper, who made buckets out of wood, was still pretty common in seaports.  My guess is that by the time the Cutty Sark ended her career, mass-produced buckets made out of metal were pretty common.  And there certainly wasn't any "official" color scheme for such things - or anything else on board a merchant ship.

If I were building a model of this ship in her as-built configuration my strong inclination would be to believe Mr. Campbell unless I had a mighty strong reason to do otherwise.  If I were trying to represent her at some later period (say, in her days in the Australian wool trade, after her main skysail had been removed), I'd give myself a good bit more latitude.

Sorry the link didn't work, if I knew how to post the picture I would 

You are right, the buckets on the present ship are teak with brass hoops and white rope handles.  However the inside of the buckets are painted white and, confusingly, someone must have got carried away and painted the rim white as well on one of the buckets.  You could try this link which is for my whole Cutty Sark album but the picture is near the end of this album on page 4 and you'd have to wade through it.  All the best. http://community.webshots.com/album/224657237mYJiSF

I did mine in Caboose Red from floquil. based on a color pic I fpond on the net.  The handles are so small they really can't be seen once in place, but I painted mine in Testors Chrome Silver to contrast.

Jake

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=208514027&security=pzrDjh

I have your build pics saved Jake and saw that your buckets were red.  I thought your handles were white though.  Looking at some pics of the actual vessel and actual buckets, they are pretty much just varnished wood with white interior.  I'll probably try something like that and do some weathering techniques to create some detail, like the individual pieces of wood that make up the bucket.  But I'm saving this job for when I've got a good stiff drink handy (by that I mean a cooler....) because those buckets are small!

Your pics have been a great help Jake.  Thanks...