Finishing Cleats on 1805 1/50 Swift Question

[Scotty W]

I have a question regarding the 9 cleats I just finished sanding into shape from the rough ones like on the left in the photo.  What finish would an 1805 ship have on them?  Should they be black or stained to stay wood looking?  This is my first ship build and I have no idea what would be appropriate.  Also, should I drill them and cut the head off a pin to mount to deck/masts or just glue them in place with no pin?  Thanks in advance for any answers you have for me.

[ccoyle]

I can't answer the first question, but you should definitely drill and pin them.

[Bob Cleek]

Two pins, actually. Drive them at opposing angles so they hold better. Your rigging lines will belay to these cleats and you don't want the tension on the lines pulling them off. Simply gluing them in place won't provide sufficient shear strength to prevent pulling them off. 

 

As for finish, it may well depend upon the period in which your prototype was built. Generally speaking, wooden cleats are left bare because this provides the better friction to hold the belaying hitches in place. They may also be oiled, in which case they'd be very dark brown or black at a scale viewing distance. Sometimes, too, though, they may be painted the same as the surrounding area or white for visibility at night. There aren't a lot of hard and fast rules on cleat colors. This is an area where the modeler gets to exercise some artistic license in the absence of any reliable historical record for a given vessel.