How lazy a surfer are you??

Just try typing HMAV Bounty into Google and you will get dozens of links to the various replica ships that have been built, including some really good You-Tube links which show the colour schemes used. I would think that the black sides with the strakes picked out in yellow would most nearly represent the kind of colour scheme an ex-merchant ship converted for the navy would have adopted.

Mike T

I absolutely agree

Mike T

I know that this is a very old topic but I thought I would address it as I'm working on a wooden model of the Bounty and have been doing some research on this ship in the hope of getting an authentic look. The sad news is, this will never happen. There has never, to my knowledge, been an accurate rendering of this ship.
Even the images from the movies can not be accepted as they were probably colours that better suited colour film. Even the paintings of the day can not be relied upon as they may be idealised.
Even though we have the physical presents of HMS Victory, recant discoveries prove we can not even rely on paintwork we can see. Renovations show that the coloured bands were not ochre but a peach colour.
So for any of you, like me, who are making this model it is probably best, at the end of the day to go for look as opposed to authenticity.

Next year it will probably be another yellow colour as more findings come to light. Most references we have are based on paintings and writings of the period and whilst giving a reference to the colours used.

An idea might be to investigate the colours available in that period most being organic and not synthetically made. So if the only yellow available in the period your looking at is 'yellow ochre' then its a good bet that was what was used in reference to yellow ribbons along the sides of the ship etc.

One other point to remember is that it was the ships captain that had to buy the colour pigments like yellow ,the admiralty only providing black and white paint.
Therefor the strength of the colour painted was governed by how much pigment was bought and mixed with the white paint.

With different amounts of pigment being used this would lead to references that quote 'pale yellow ribbons' or just 'yellow'. After a long period at sea this would also change the colour of the yellow from the start of the voyage to the end of it. Plus during a refit after the end of six months or more at sea the colour mixed would still not be the same as the yellow mixed six months or more in the past.

The reality is any colour that is reference and as long as its a colour available from the period then thats about as close as you can get for our models.

Paintings of the Bounty often depict her in a green or blue colour scheme but as far as I'm aware there is no known confirmation of her actual original colours.

Cheers

Alan