I've certainly seen this mentioned on one or two web sites about the Victory.

Its mentioned in this link

http://www.paintedships.com/victory.asp

"Nelson hoisted his flag in Victory in 1803, and smart and clean after her refit, she sailed from Spithead on 20 March. Her gun decks would have been given a fresh coat of red paint (to minimise the psychological effect on her gunners when the footing became awash with blood) and the yellow bands along her hull doubtless bright as gold."

Though like Mike says, it could well be old wives tales.

Hi Tom

I have read the rest of the article which you linked in and it makes interesting reading. I wish I knew who wrote it. He talks about Captain Hardy as being a cruel man at odds with Nelson. in fact, Nelson and Hardy served together successfully before Victory and shared common views on discipline. The article suggests that Hardy 'ordered' three 'floggings round the fleet' between 1803 and 1805. It is unlikely that he would have been able to do this. Such a punishment could only be awarded by a courts martial, in which case a board of senior officers would have had to agree.

The author also makes a throw away emotive comment about the sailors 'living worse than animals' whilst the officers lived differently. People need to place the Georgian Navy in the context of a society where there were huge differences between the 'gentry' and the poor. In actual fact sailors on board ship had a hard life but were far better off than their contemporaries who lived and worked on the land. Hence the number of volunteers for the Navy. Sailors had a good varied diet including meat amounting to 2500 calories per day in order to do hard manual work. The quality of the food was not what we have come to expect from modern super markets with freezers etc. however the 18th century sailors knew little better.

I am making these points just to illustrate how fascinating it can be to look at the history and times behind the models that are being built. I enjoy my model making but like to put it in context. Lets have more contributions along these lines.

Thanks for that Tom

Mike T

Hi mates,

which decks where affected by this?
Where all decks painted red or just the orlop ?
As i mentioned in my older post here, I am nearby working on a cross-section model of the vic
and I would like to paint the interior as well.

Thanks for any advices.

Timm

A few years ago I built the Heller 1/98 scale plastic kit of the Victory. From what I've read about this kit, it is supposed to be the most historically accurate kit of the Victory made up to that time. The lower gundeck on that kit was painted red. I know that it's only a plastic kit (and French to boot ) but it adds fuel to the question of deck colour. I am not trying to stir anything up with this post, just pointing something out.

Mike T, have you any sugestions on how to make the middle and upper gun decks look bleached.

Hi

I have tried to do this on bits of scrap a few times, The best way I have up to now is mix white paint with water very thin and watered down, dab the smallest bit of black. So it would be very light grey. Paint in all over the bare deck. Leave to dry then rub down lightly. then you can coat it with whatever covering you wish to use.( I use Antique oil.) If done right it should look bleached.

Try on scrap wood first.

Chris..

I've been researching this topic for the last few days and on the question of aging decks came across this guy on MSW. I suppose Brit products could be found. Or is this to extreme?

Deck colour

Thanks magpie1832 & Zeptrader, will try out your surgestions on some scrap wood and see which method looks best for what i am trying to achieve.