Nelson & His World

Discussion on the life and times of Admiral Lord Nelson
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 Post subject: Victory in the Pink
PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:07 am 
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Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:11 am
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Location: Stockholm, Sweden
An interesting film clip describing HMS Victory's new colour scheme and how it was arrived at. Having, like most of us, been used to seeing her in various shades of yellow and yellow ochre, I find I actually quite like it:

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/search/?q=hms+vICTORY

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 Post subject: Re: Victory in the Pink
PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:47 pm 
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We had a long discussion in previous posts about a very similar topic, namely "HMS Victory's 'Hideous Orange Paint" which then became "How were warships painted?", in which many contemporary instructions and documents about how ships were to be painted and lists of ingredients issued for the purpose were quoted at length.

To me the essential messages were that
1) on war ships,the streaks that are currently 'pink' on Victory were undoubtedly painted in yellow mixed with white (in a proportion of 6 to1) using varnish as a base and thinned with turpentine; and
2) any colour scheme used in the dockyards or on board ship would have to have been petty basic - if not crude.

The 'pink' colour now showing (whether one finds it attractive or not) doesn't seem to conform to these rules: and is the tone not too sophisticated and difficult to obtain on a regular basis in a busy dockyard or ship?

I hope these clever scientists don't find signs of embroidery on Victory's sails or we are definitely in for a rethink.

Brian


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 Post subject: Re: Victory in the Pink
PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:12 pm 
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Brian,

You have a good point.

On a ship modelling site I follow, one of the members suggested that the 'pink' colour might also have been arrived at by mixing red and white (very likely in similar proportions) – red also being a basic colour available in a dockyard. However, he also made the valid observation that, if they are so sure this is the correct colour, why do practically all the paintings of Victory by famous artists have her painted in yellow or yellow ochre?

I have to agree with you though, this does all sound a bit too technical.

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 Post subject: Re: Victory in the Pink
PostPosted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:58 pm 
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Location: mid-Wales
The clip that Kester posted mentions that the font used for 'Victory' is also to be changed as the current one is wrong. Scroll down a bit to read more about this:

http://typefoundry.blogspot.co.uk/2007/01/

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 Post subject: Re: Victory in the Pink
PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:48 am 
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Anna,

There is an interesting in-depth article on the Victory homepage regarding the repainting, from Andrew Baines the leader of the project. However, it doesn't seem accessible at the moment as the website appears to be down, or I would have posted it here. It explains in some detail why and how the colours were chosen. Significantly he says that it looks different under changing light conditions.

There is also something about the change in font for the name.

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 Post subject: Re: Victory in the Pink
PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 10:20 am 
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Location: Stockholm, Sweden
The Victory webpage is back on line again, so here is the article on the repaint:

http://www.hms-victory.com/restoration- ... ar-colours

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 Post subject: Re: Victory in the Pink
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 12:01 pm 
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"graphite grey and a colour that ranges from a creamy-orange to almost salmon pink in certain lights" is a phrase and a colour more reminiscent of Oscar Wilde than a busy dockyard intent on mass production and using/mixing a crude and limited range of paints.. I am afraid I remain unconvinced. It looks too sophisticated. I have never seen the words 'graphite grey' (or grey) for that matter mentioned in relation to the paint ordered and supplied for the navy. I suppose grey could have been produced by mixing white and black, but this was a period when uniformity in appearance was beginning to become important and if grey was the norm, then there would have been instructions issued as to the proportions of black and white that had to be used in the mixture for the guidance of the crews who were less artistically inclined. Has anyone seen any? Contemporary evidence in terms of the descriptions given in writing as to the handful of basic colours used and in contemporary paintings only mention (and show) 'yellow'.

Brian


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