The next parts are definately important as they cover rigging, first the standing rigging then the running rigging. There will even be a bonus post at the end where Rory explains the difference between rigging the Mizzen the British way and the way every other nation did it.
I know I can speak for Rory when I say that we both hope that his guide can be of help to anyone that wants to model and wargame the Napoleonic Naval period 1/1200 scale ships. Hopefully I will be able to get the next parts posted within the next two weeks. I am tagging them all under the "How To" label on the blog so when later successive posts bury the guide, anyone can find it by clicking on the "How To" label.
Regards,
Vol
PS to Dave Jackson
Thanks Dave for posting the link again to Ray Trochim's color guide. Unfortunately some of his information is not completely accurate. Spain and Russia are incorrect.
Spain had a well established color scheme established by Naval Ministry, the Spanish equivalent of the Admiralty board. At the time of the Napoleonic Wars the Spanish navy was still under the regulation of 1772 which established the following mandatory color schemes:
HULL :
>Black
>Yellow bands in the starting of the decks, with gun ports in black, main wale, middle wale and upper wale black
>Bulkwark yellow
>Plank sheer black
>Inside the bulkwark, from deck to plank sheer, earth red (wine color)
>Headrails, sometimes blue with gold borders, sometimes bone with gold borders
MASTS:
Bowsprit, Fore, Main, Mizzen Yellow (Sometimes the top mast, topgallant, jibboom and flying jibboom, are painted earth red, this variation will be only in the ships of the line 112, and 74 cannons.)
DECK :
Bulkheads blue (or deep blue or black) and yellow. The same for the poop bulkhead and breakhead bulkhead
Breakhead platform and cathead blue, sometimes in black.
STERN GALLERIES :
Blue with details in gold and bone, sometimes black with details in gold, the coat of arms of the ship in the poop.
Normally the basic paint was black or deep blue, only in some cases (like the Santa Ana), the stern galleries were in blue.
INSIDE :
All the ship in earth red, gunports, inside earth red, officers, captain and admmirals cabin in bone.
LAUNCH, BARGE, PINNACE AND CUTTER:
Hull black, yellow wale.
Inside, earth red, and inside the poop bone
I believe the misconceptions like Mr Trochim's come from eyewitness accounts by British officers at the battle of Trafalgar where the Santissima Trinidad was variously reported to be black with white stripes, black with red stripes, red with black stripes, and red with black stripes lined in white. Paintings reflecting these color schemes reflect the artist's interpretation of these reports. It is more likely that the Santissima had not been repainted for some time and her hull was severely weathered and faded, possibly tarred to protect the wood. The Museo Naval in Madrid has plans and contemporary models of many of the ships from the period that all reflect the established colors I have listed here.
The hulls of the high seas Russian fleet during the Napoleonic wars primarily were black with white stripes, very similar to the American ships of the time. Rory can speak better to this since this is one of his areas of research. The green and white in Mr Trochim's guide was used earlier in the century.
I have seen numerous Russian and Spanish ship models painted incorrectly for the period. However as Rory will tell you, on the gaming table, as long as you can tell one fleet from the other, it doesn't make a bit of difference what color the ships are painted. And I'll drink to that!
paints brigs for the British fleet.
