Mast colour

[MESSIS]

Have tried to get real mast colour. I believe pine or fir should be pale yellow with a dash of orange or honey. Still havent succeeded to do so. 

 

This stain (honey)I have used has given me some variants but still not a convincing mast colour. I did gave it on top a matt varnish... but....

 

Would appreciate any comments or guidance.

[ERS Rich]

1 or 2 look good to me....however in life the color variations are infinite....

 

Cheers

[MESSIS]

@ERS Rich no I believe this is not the colour of masts. Its too orange... how do you go about this issue with your work?

Edited March 3, 2021 by MESSIS

[ERS Rich]

Hello,

 

When shipbuilding in all things, I pick the color that appeals to me....

 

One of my professions is cabinet making, so based on my work with pine, 1 or 2 look ok....

 

And we know in real life, based on the finish, how old it is, and how well it’s maintained there is no one true mast color....

 

Therefore I just pick what makes sense to me....

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

 

[amateur]

Masts were made of pine, and oiled (at least: back in the 1600dreds, in the Netherlands.). That results in a orangy look. However, when times go by, he wood starts greying, and thecolour turns brown.

and above all: lighting conditions do wonders :). Check pictures of eg Duyfken in Freemantle or Batavia in Lelystad. Hard to tell what colour they have

 

I would go for a slightly toned down version of 2.

 

Jan

[MESSIS]

@ERS Rich and @amateur thank you both very much! Indeed your knowledge  and comments are a breakthrough in my thoughts how to go about.

 

Thank you again guys

Christos

 

 

Ps @amateur do you think I should oil them after staining?

Edited March 3, 2021 by MESSIS

[amateur]

Nope. I don't like oils for small models: too shiny, and too much on top on the sufprface. If anything, use whipe-on poly. That gives a nice surface look.

 

Jan

[MESSIS]

Thank you Jan. What is whiepe on poly?

 

Christos

[wefalck]

Polyurethane varnish diluted, so that you can wipe it on with a rag. Very popular across the pond, but less so in Europe. I guess people here prefer either nitrocellulose varnish or shellac solution.

 

When you say mast-colour, do you mean the colour of a mast after a certain treatment or the colour of paint that was/is used to give (metal) masts a sort of yellow colour ? I am asking this because I have the suspicion that you are looking for the right colour for your Imperial German yacht, right ?

 

This paint was some sort of ochre. The problem is that ochre can have a wide range of colours, from almost blueish red to a pale yellow, depending on where it comes from and how it is processed. I did some research for the Imperial German Navy, but did not get very far. The German Navy refers to it as 'Mastenfarbe', i.e. mast-colour, but there were no standards at the time. I made some enquiries at the Chatham Dockyard Museum as to what they used during the restoration of HMS GANNET, which has the typical later 19th century yellow masts, but due to COVID, I didn't get very far. Photographs can be misleading, but according to the picture I took some years ago, this ochre has a light pinkish tint.

 

Otherwise, masts treated with oil or pine tar will look somewhere between your samples 1 and 2, depending on the type of wood. I gather, if you used unbleached shellac, you would get about the right colour, which is slightly orangy. After applying the shellac, you can rub it down lightly with a humid cloth and some pumice dust or with very fine steel wool until you have the desired depth of colour. Rebuff to a light sheen with a cotton cloth or felt buffing wheel. This surface treatment doesn't add a visible layer of varnish, but gives a depth of colour.

[MESSIS]

@wefalck Eberhard, thank you. I do use nitrocellulose, and am doing that in order to seal and fine sand the wood. I never have used it to colour masts.

 

Thank you for guiding me, am going to try a few techniques,  your guidance using nitrocellulose and then a pine stain.  Am also going to use some light  pine stain with or without a dash of honey stain. At the top of the stain am thinking  a pass of matt varnish.

[ERS Rich]

Final coat of furniture paste wax is also an option....easy to apply, ready quickly, a traditional wood finish, looks good....

 

Coating wood with plastic, that’s what poly is, seems incongruous with a ship model, and I hate the hazardous waste....

 

My personal preference is shellac or stain under acrylics (painted finish) or stain/wax (unpainted finish).

 

Cheers

[MESSIS]

@ERS Rich thank you. Very sensible, "plastik" cant be an option on a wooden ship! Am experimenting now but just with stains and shellac (in my workshop nitrocellulose), wax isnt wrong either.