Accurate Deck Colours

[Frank Brick Wright]

I have found that the far majority of the ships built are made using mostly brown/reddish brown plates for the decks. However, while doing some research for my current ship, I noticed that, surprisingly, for ships from the 17th century and after that the usual deck colour would be something between dark tan and tan.

In case this being truth, is there a reason for reddish brown being preferred to tan in terms of historical accuracy?

Edited January 26, 2012 by Frank Brick Wright

[Sebeus I]

I think it's a matter of availability of certain colors in ones' collection.

Btw, I'm working on two ships of war, both with light gray decks, I don't use tan because I want to save those parts for other creations such as islands (sand), other builders might have the same reason for not using tan on ship decks.

I suppose the most obvious alternative is brown, I used a lot of black on my older ships but that wasn't a very good idea because it makes the ship look dark and hides many details.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Sebeus Iniwum

[kurigan]

I prefer to use tan for decks where I can. i find the lighter color seem more like a man-of-war's deck, holy stoned and swabbed daily. I find white or light gray can have a similar effect.

[Foremast Jack]

Yes, I am with Kurigan and Sebeus here. While I think tan to be the most accurate they also tend to be the most expensive. The brown colours work quite well and can be got at with a trifle less time and money.

At the same time I think it's important to plan the deck colour(s) so that things placed in, on and around it are offset so as to be easily visible in pictures. A ship I'm currently working on will have brown decking (although tan would be more accurate) because a lot of the "paint trim" on the ship is already tan.

Moral of the story: If you want tan and can afford and find it (and it looks good/fits the build) then I think you should get it.

[Frank Brick Wright]

Yes, I guess tan's price is a counter reason for using it… I think a good option would be, in general, to build interior decks with brown (like gun's deck) and top decks with tan, since it requires fewer tan parts and seeing a tan stripe in the side of a black ship is weird. And surely lots of tan gets weird too because the ships starts looking too light and clean

[On Stranger Tides]

Tan is the best

Edited January 27, 2012 by On Stranger Tides

[______]

I like to use tan usually, It depends on the ship. Brown goes well with dark colours, and tan goes well with lighter colours. Of course contrast look nice.

However this is a question of historical accuracy, and most ships I have been on and seen use tan, or dark tan. I prefer tan anyway.

[Captain Green Hair]

Dark tan seems most appropriate to me, as you can imagine decks get wet and dirty and this gets into the wood. A daily scrub will not prevent this completely. Tan is second best, but it looks like freshly cut wood. Reddish brown or dark brown is great for well aged decks. Light grey is my least favourite, but still looks OK imo.

[Frank Brick Wright]

Dark tan is definitively better… But is extremely rare and pricy I feel the same as you about tan, it does give a brand-new look to a ship, though I feel that if it applies to a XVIII century ship it is pretty decent, because ships of these period used to be far more cleaner than their precedents. I guess, however, that for a galleon or an old ship, as you stated, brown would be better.