Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Full Scale Ships => Topic started by: polobeer on October 12, 2009, 04:16:49 pm
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Can anyone explain why so many ship funnels over the years have been painted red? They look good but is there any other reason?
Simon
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It's proably partly tradition. In the early days of steam funnel casings used to get pretty hot and the only paint which would stay on without blistering was either black or a concoction involving red lead. That is why Cunard ships traditionally have an orangy red colour. Also, I suppose that if the paint did come off and the steel beneath rusted the colour wouldn't change too much. The tops of funnels were usually painted black to disguise smoke discolouration as were the main topmasts. All very practical really!
Colin
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How about cream/yellow/buff also common funnel colours on Victorian naval ships of many nations ?
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Naval ships were full of sailors with not enough to do (particularly those with sailing rigs) so they could afford the luxury of high maintenance paintwork - very often the senior officers paid for the paint too in order to keep the ship looking smart. Merchant ships didn't have that luxury.
Colin
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I think the topic was the colour of funnels O0
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Well, it still is as far as I can see!
Colin
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A very plausible answer for the colour red, how about the very common yellows/tan/buff colours was my follow-up question. Plenty of non naval ships have these colours.
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I thought I'd answered that. But in the 19th century ochre based paints were easier to come by and of course featured on RN ships of the line in Nelson's day. White lead would give a good white colour and black had always been available so no great secret that Victorian warships tended to use black, white and various shades of ochre instead of say pink, green and blue although the RN Museum has a good model of HMS Albion with a green hull.
Some passenger shipping lines would also have had more money to spend on paint such as the Union line but the more workaday owners tended to stick with low cost black or red.
Colin
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Thanks Colin, cant say I like the green hull though.
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Actually, I rather liked it, a bit out of the ordinary like the Southampton class cruiser HMS Manchester in China station colours.
Colin
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Hi Colin Bishop, Look up Napier of Glasgow, I believe they started the Red Funnel.
Nemesis
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Different Shipping Lines had different Funnel colours.
Cunard (who had the Queens) used red with a black top and two thin black bands at 1/3rd and 2/3rds of the height.
Pacific and Orient used a buff colour and I am sure those who remember the Merchant Fleet better than I can will surely be bable to add more!
The Royal Navy?
Grey Funnel Line of course! :-))
Rex
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Rex, I think you'll find that P&O stands for Peninsular and Oriental (Steam Navigation Company, to give it its full title), not Pacific and Orient. P&O is now part of the Carnival Corporation, who also own Cunard and many others.
You're quite right about the funnel colours, I well remember the big white or buff hulled ships with buff funnels coming into Sydney harbour, ships such as Orcades, Orsova and the old Oriana. The three mentioned were owned by the Orient Line and transferred to P&O when the Orient Line was acquired by P&O.
Peter.
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Royal Naval Hydrographic Survey Ships
Buff Funnel Line
Or in the words of most Survey Skippers
Just one more line!
Yours aye
Netley Ned
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Rex, I think you'll find that P&O stands for Peninsular and Oriental (Steam Navigation Company, to give it its full title), not Pacific and Orient. P&O is now part of the Carnival Corporation, who also own Cunard and many others.
You're quite right about the funnel colours, I well remember the big white or buff hulled ships with buff funnels coming into Sydney harbour, ships such as Orcades, Orsova and the old Oriana. The three mentioned were owned by the Orient Line and transferred to P&O when the Orient Line was acquired by P&O.
Peter.
I stand corrected.......Thankyou Peter.
Rex