- Joined
- Apr 15, 2021
- Messages
- 231
- Points
- 213
![](https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/styles/default/xenforo/ranks/04pettyofficersecondclass.png)
Love these ropes. I think it's all about demand and supply, however I would choose the "absolute dark" over black. It's almost like tarred hemp rope and gives a authentic look to it. Perhaps if you're building Nelsons navy ships, then black would be the best fit.
Napoleonic era ships would most definitely would have been using Pine tar = Dark Brown
Of course you should choose what would be more accurate for the period but there is artistic license and people should use what they like. The black rope has about a quarter the sales as Dark Brown does. That doesn't mean it's not relevant. Standing rigging with Coal tar on it is really black, after aging it gets a bit grey. Coal tar was considered a medicine up until the mid-1800s it also wasn't mass-produced until the industrial revolution. Anything rigged before that had to be Pine tar/Stockholm tar. From what I've seen Pine tar has a broad range of brown shades based on the number of applications and aging.
Someday I will get around to adding more shades of brown to my collection.
Last edited: