San Philipe painting

[roadrunner]

Hello all, I have completed the hull of the Occre San Philipe and I would like any advice on whether I should paint the bottom of the hull. The picture on the box shows the hull painted white below the bottom wale but the instruction manual shows it varnished. Thanks

 

[AndyA]

Brother Roadrunner:
It depends. If you want your model to look like the real ship (which you should), paint it to simulate the likely bottom coating. Otherwise, you can finish it anyway you want. You will break no law. Fair winds!

 

[Corsair]

Some people like the paint and some people like the natural wood.
Look at the two pictures and pick the one you like the most.

 

[celtic 1]

BONJOUR

Voici ce que ça fait la coque peinte en blanc

 

[Caddyman]

Hi Roadrunner, I had the same struggling choice. I did a lot of researching and after that I made up my mind, BUT white is not always white. The color used those days, before coppering was introduced, was a mixture with lead included to protect the hull planking. Like red lead until recently. So that put the white color into an extremely light grey, almost white but there was also an accent of tan to it. The leaded white is, because of its toxicity, taken off the market so I had to us my fantacy. I searced in the internet under leaded white and found a company producing a paint pretty close to what I needed.

 

[Etwas_63]

I'm still in the process of construction, but I still prefer the natural color of the wood. In my version, St. Philip is not painted at all, only the gilding on the ship's decorations.

 

[Caddyman]

I also thought about this. Anyway, you have a very eautiful and skilled build o this lovely ship

 

[Thomas]

I'm still in the process of construction, but I still prefer the natural color of the wood. In my version, St. Philip is not painted at all, only the gilding on the ship's decorations.

View attachment 594746View attachment 594750

I agree--why cover up all your good planking work with paint?

 

[Caddyman]

I just follow the way things were done at that time. I try to follow the suggestions and historical reviews of Wolfram zu Mondfeld, a professional historian, author and the chief model builder at the Technical Museum in Berlin, Germany. He knows much more about this than I do, or mostly than anybody else.

 

[AndyA]

I'm still in the process of construction, but I still prefer the natural color of the wood. In my version, St. Philip is not painted at all, only the gilding on the ship's decorations.

There have been a number of discussions on these forums related to the tension between aesthetics and historical accuracy. We should try to be honest and not confuse the two. In post #6, Etwas makes it clear that his decision not to paint was an aesthetic choice, i.e. a visual preference. His model is beautiful and displays a high level of craftsmanship. I can't see the bottom planking well enough to say for sure but it's likely that the planking is not accurate as to size and lay. Nice to look at but not adding to the viewers understanding of the construction or appearance of the real thing. Fair winds!

 

[Etwas_63]

There have been a number of discussions on these forums related to the tension between aesthetics and historical accuracy. We should try to be honest and not confuse the two. In post #6, Etwas makes it clear that his decision not to paint was an aesthetic choice, i.e. a visual preference. His model is beautiful and displays a high level of craftsmanship. I can't see the bottom planking well enough to say for sure but it's likely that the planking is not accurate as to size and lay. Nice to look at but not adding to the viewers understanding of the construction or appearance of the real thing. Fair winds!

Of course, you're right, my model is purely interior and only slightly accurate historically. You can see the construction process in detail in my St. Philip thread. However, I tried to make the planking below the waterline at least somewhat similar to the real thing.