HMS Victory Companionway Ladder Colors

[Jonathan_219]

Trying to determine what to do with the finish on the first companionway ladder I'm coming to in my Victory build. Google AI says a combination of the black and yellow, while in the pictures and videos from current Victory it looks more like a natural light brown, like varnished pine but I can't find anything with great lighting so I'm not sure. Going for the Trafalgar look and if anyone has thoughts I'd appreciate it. Also considering whether all the ladders are the same.

 

Slightly side note, the current Victory companionways look a little different from the Caldercraft kit, I'm thinking that's for the safety of visitors but I would think the colors would still be right.

[Kenchington]

I'll offer a couple of wild guesses:

 

Companionways strike me as the kind of thing that would be decorated in whatever way the current captain of a ship wished (and, in Nelson's day, was willing to pay for out of his own pocket).

 

I also suspect that they were the sort of thing that got worn out and replaced by the ship's carpenter at intervals, besides being discarded overboard when going into action or else shattered by shot if kept in place. I'll go beyond guesses and say that it is near-certain that no 1805 companionway survived aboard Victory for modern study, so the examination of deeply-buried paint chips (which has informed understanding of her external colours) hasn't been possible.

 

So ... there may be no good contemporary evidence and no standard to apply. Maybe I'm wrong and someone else can point to something more definite, but I'd say that it's up to the model builder to choose something that looks right. Maybe something that looks like oak that has been both well-oiled and well-rubbed (by seamen's feet!)?

 

There are a lot of contemporary illustrations of life aboard warships of that era, some by professional artists, others by officers sketching for their journals. At least one shows a companionway, so there is some evidence of their shape and form, though the companionway from quarterdeck to wardroom was, very likely, far more elaborate than the ones between the lower and main decks!

 

 

Trevor

[Jonathan_219]

Thanks Trevor, I'm running through some ideas and will make a decision soon and move forward.