HMS Victory - Pretty In Pink?

Yes Ray, I'm not too enthusiastic about the color they've decided to paint her. I'm not so sure it represents the exact time frame of the Napoleonic Wars when Nelson used her as his flagship.

I've read elsewhere that His Majesty's Royal Navy used whatever color was available at the time so, perhaps they're correct, perhaps not.

I've often wondered why so many warships in eigtheenth through twentieth centuries used some variation of what I'd call buff color.  I know in some cases particular colors were the cheapest available, like barn red from iron ore.  Was buff a cheap color, or was that just what you painted a ship?  In late nineteenth century it was so popular, especially for funnels!

Buff, or perhaps we should say "yellow ochre", was dirt cheap. Literally - it was based on a kind of soil or clay. I have a short pamphlet by Boudriot listing the prices of various kinds of colour pigment used in the French Navy, ochre - whether red or yellow - was at the very bottom of the scale while Preussian Blue was at the top at about 45 times the cost per pound. Even black was twice as expensive as ochre.

I had always understood that the interiors of the sailing fighting ships were painted red to minimize the shock to the sailors of seeing blood sprayed around during battle.

Staale S

Buff, or perhaps we should say "yellow ochre", was dirt cheap. Literally - it was based on a kind of soil or clay. I have a short pamphlet by Boudriot listing the prices of various kinds of colour pigment used in the French Navy, ochre - whether red or yellow - was at the very bottom of the scale while Preussian Blue was at the top at about 45 times the cost per pound. Even black was twice as expensive as ochre.

 

 

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense.  I suspected something like that.  And as to Amphib's post, I had for years also heard of the blood thing, but read someone else's opinion that it was a cost thing.  Same reason virtually alll barns were red.  Like ocre, any place that had iron-rich soil provided a nice red.  Red iron oxide paints, and charcoal black paints, have been popular since pre-historic times since they were so easy to obtain.

1943Mike

Yes Ray, I'm not too enthusiastic about the color they've decided to paint her. I'm not so sure it represents the exact time frame of the Napoleonic Wars when Nelson used her as his flagship.

I've read elsewhere that His Majesty's Royal Navy used whatever color was available at the time so, perhaps they're correct, perhaps not.

 

I could just see the reaction and conversation that would have happened the morning they were to set sail:

"I must appologize Captain Hardy, but maybe if the Admiral arrives before first light, he won't take notice to the color.  This all came about because we required 400 gallons of Yellow Orce, but the only paint the yard could muster was 290 gallons of white primer and 110 gallons of red primer, and since you ordered the painting to commence at all costs and us to sail with the morning tide, we had no choice sir."

Beyond the color snafu, I didn't realized she'd had her mast cut down so much. Ugh! The pain in my heart to see such a beautiful lady violated all the way around.

They aren't cut down. They've been lowered, presumably to be worked on. Actually when a warship was overhauled in port, that'd be pretty common.

Ok, so is she currently under going a restoration? I had assumed that the photo depicted her current condition as on display.

Yes, thats why shes getting a paint job. If you look at the photo, you can see where the stays and shrouds for the topmasts are hanging down in bundles from the tops, and the mast heads are all wrapped up.

I also will admit that IF I ever "finish" my 1/100 Victory, this is about how she'll look.