Russian Brig Mercury Colours

[robgrainger78@sky.com]

Good morning.

I am new to this forum so thankyou for accepting me into what looks like a very friendly and informative site.

I am currently building my second ship, the Russian Brig Mercury by Amati, my first ever ship being the HM Granado from Caldercraft. 

So far I am quite impressed by the quality of the kit. My only two gripes compared to the Caldercraft being that there are virtually no 'spare' parts and the strip wood is actually short of being enough and secondly the instructions, while fairly decent are nowhere near as detailed as Caldercrafts and omit several points which they just expect you to know.  This is all very well and good though since having done the Caldercraft first I have built up enough experience to be able to fill in the gaps for myself. (I certainly wouldn't recommend as a first build though!)

One question I cant seem to be able to answer is what colours to use in painting this model.  Particularly the specific shades of yellow and green used. This is obviously quite an uncommon kit as I haven't found a complete build log of the ship anywhere as yet, but it was the uniqueness and my interest in Russian history that attracted me to this boat in the first place.

I obviously have a nice set of admiralty paints from building Granado but there is clearly no overlap between Nelson's navy colours and 19th century Russian military colours. The admiralty yellow ochre for example is nothing like the lightness of the shade pictured on the Mercury box. The instructions are also very unhelpful in this regard stating simply that the inner bulwarks for example should be painted 'green' lol!

So has anyone who has built this model, or in the process of building it got any ideas for these two main colours? I've looked at many colour swatches from lots of different paint manufacturers and cant seem to find anything close for either the yellow or green.

I'm thinking I may have to mix up my own colours from what I have but as a relative newbie to the hobby I'm not even sure if this is a good idea.  Should I do this?

I Look forward to hearing anyone's opinions on this issue and appreciate you taking the time to read my first post.

Thanks

Rob

 

[ccoyle]

Well, I can't answer your paint question exactly, but I do agree that this is a fantastic kit and hope that you will post a build log for it. Be the first to "git 'er done". As far as paint goes, I wouldn't put too much stock in the box photos, because even good photos can give a false impression of the paint's actual shade. Hopefully someone can provide a better answer for you.

[lmagna]

You might try and send a PM to Eugene, (Greenstone) of Master Korabel.

 

While this is not a kit manufactured by his company, he is possibly the best source we have here at MSW for 19th century Russian navel research, and may be willing to help with contemporary Russian colors.

 

Later today when I get some time, I will try to look look at my kit for the Brigantine Phoenix, (Master Korabel) and see what they suggest for colors. Someone else may have some better original source information and may post it in the meantime. 

[Jim Rogers]

Like Lou I am also currently building the Phoenix. Here is the color scheme I decided on, have no clue if it is historic or not.

[lmagna]

Sorry Jim I'm not actually in the process of building my Phoenix. It is currently in the stack of "Pending" builds. I went through a phase when I first decided to get back into ships and was not sure what I wanted to build. The only wooden sailing ship I owned was the Schooner Enterprise that had been given to me years ago partly started. I ended up buying several kits but  at this point they are all just inflation fighters until I build the Providence.

 

I was unable to see any really detailed painting instructions or descriptions in my kit but it seems like most people have done theirs much like you have with the black wales, white outer bulwarks, and green inner bulwarks. I would think that the lower hull would have been coppered.

 

  Brig Mercury attacked by two Turkish ships (1892) 

Lessons from the past by Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900 AGED 82)

[Archi]

 

 

 

Some information on the russian site: http://forum.modelsworld.ru/topic511.html

[Jim Rogers]

The site is in Russian.

[mtaylor]

Google Translate (I used Chrome for this site) worked very well for me.

[greenstone]

My regards!

 

Brig Mercury (1820) had a specific color, as painted russian ships in the 20-30s of the 19th century

 

We have a real image of the brig Mercury, which was painted by the navigator (sailing master) Prokofiev.

He was on board during the battle with the Turkish ships.  He is an eyewitness.

This drawing is kept in The Central Naval Museum ( St. Petersburg, Russia)

I note that under the gun ports was a narrow white stripe.

The presence of this narrow strip is confirmed by other archival documents

 

P.S. All other images of the brig are fake. None of the other artists (including Aivazovsky) have seen the brig in reality.

 

Eugene

[greenstone]

in addition to my post
Here is the approved coloring of the ship by the Russian emperor Alexander the First in 1824.

This is an official document.
I think the  color of the board from the inside was on the brig Mercury

 

 

This color looks like

[lmagna]

Thank you Eugene

 

That is a much lighter shade of green than I expected.

[Jim Rogers]

Thanks Eugene. I really appreciate the way your company responds to all inquiries. Other companies should take note on how to provide real customer service.