HMS Defence - washed and dry-brushed sails, painted yards.

[Uthoroc]

"I'll only do a quick brown wash to the sails, to see how it looks" I said and sat down at my paint station. A wash, two dry-brushs and a coat of paint for the yards later, this is the result.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6261189/SoG/06_PaintedSails.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6261189/SoG/07_PaintedSailsComparison.jpg

Now I'm doomed to do all of them. :bleh:

P.S.: Thanks to Chris for the inspiration (http://www.sailsofglory.org/showthread.php?1973-HMS-Goliath-Rigged).

[Nightbomber]

A very good result there, Ralf. The sails look far better then factory finish. Could you please write more about the method you used?
I''d like to do the same with my ships (when they finally come).
But anyway: is the yellow colour of the masts really correct? Were they painted yellow?

[Uthoroc]

I washed the sails with diluted Brown Ink (Vallejo games color), but they felt too dark afterward. So I applied a drybrush of Bonewhite and when that wasn't enough, another with a 50:50 mix of Bonewhite and Dead White. Afterwards I simply picked out the yards and mast platforms in black.

And yes, masts were at least occasionally painted yellow it seems. See here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/HMS_Victory_-_bow.jpg).

[Пилот]

Nice paint jobs!

As I could find, masts used to be yellow and wood. Yards were usually black. And that's what I'm goin to paint.

What I'm interested in, too, is: what was the purpose of pennant, and can every ship have it and when? It could make a visual difference between two fleets, and is easily done.

[fredmiracle]

I like the sail wash, but from what I've seen, the single most awesome thing you can do with these ships is paint the yardarms. Too back I lack the guts and steady hands to try it...

[Nightmoss]

Looks fantastic. Bonewhite for the sails and black for the yards makes a huge difference. You best hurry up on the rest of your ships though. 12 (24) new ships coming in May 2014!! :happy:

[Uthoroc]

You best hurry up on the rest of your ships though. 12 (24) new ships coming in May 2014!! :happy:

Arrghh... where is my brush!?

Thanks for the kind comments to all!

[7eat51]

Very nice, Ralf. You have elevated your collection, and it seems fairly easy to do as well. :hatsoff:

Thanks for the instructions.

[DeRuyter]

I washed the sails with diluted Brown Ink (Vallejo games color), but they felt too dark afterward. So I applied a drybrush of Bonewhite and when that wasn't enough, another with a 50:50 mix of Bonewhite and Dead White. Afterwards I simply picked out the yards and mast platforms in black.

And yes, masts were at least occasionally painted yellow it seems. See here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/HMS_Victory_-_bow.jpg).


Great job on the sails wash followed by dry brush is the way to go! :thumbsup:

Just off the top of my head I think the British ships would have yellow ochre masts with woldings (mast bands) painted black as shown by the Victory in your link. For US ships you could go with white painted masts as here:

http://www.militaryfactory.com/imageviewer/shp/pic-detail.asp?ship_id=USS-Constitution&sCurrentPic=pic1

US ships also had the yellow color or simply varnished wood.

http://www.boatnerd.com/news/newsthumbsb/images-12-3/1.Niagara-9-6-12-KM.jpg

[DeRuyter]

Nice paint jobs!

As I could find, masts used to be yellow and wood. Yards were usually black. And that's what I'm goin to paint.

What I'm interested in, too, is: what was the purpose of pennant, and can every ship have it and when? It could make a visual difference between two fleets, and is easily done.

A pennant often signified the commander's ship in a squadron. In the Royal Navy all commissioned ships flew a pennant from the mainmast, which was slender and long. A broad pennant distinguished a commodore's ship and if an Admiral was on board the ship flew a rectangular flag of the appropriate color (red, white or blue) from the main top. (From Nelson's Navy by Brian Lavery). I am not sure what the French did with flags and pennants.

[Gunner]

I am not sure what the French did with flags and pennants.

Bleached them white:surrender:

[Uthoroc]

I painted the HMS Terpsichore's sails and yards in the same scheme. Next I wanna paint the two French ships from the starter set. I'll try a little different scheme I think, grey wash and wood-coloured yards, so the two nations can be told apart at a glance.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LWcDgrhN2dQ/Uuli5oB34ZI/AAAAAAAAE60/gxYz7ZNpssQ/s800-no/08_LineAstern.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OpZ-9dEy-QY/Uuli5gy8Z_I/AAAAAAAAE6w/DRBSFwongOM/w1200-h489-no/09_TerpsichorePainted.jpg

[Nightmoss]

Looks very good! Amazing how just a little extra effort really makes the ships stand out. Well done!

[Elrohir]

Very nice job. Can't wait to see pics of the grey wash for comparison, I have been trying to decide which way to go with mine. I may steal your idea and compromise on both, making it a nationality identifier!

[Tommy Z]

Looks good Ralf! :beer:

I think we'll have to get a game or two in at GenCon!

[7eat51]

The angle of the new pictures shows how much the wash brings out the sail details, as well as reduces the plastic look quite a bit. :thumbsup:

[Uthoroc]

I think we'll have to get a game or two in at GenCon!

Absolutely! :beer:

[BRIAN DUNBAR]

Looks great. :beer:

I am going to have to try this and then add rigging. I should have all those paints somewhere in that modeling desk in the garage.

[Uthoroc]

So this is my first try at a grey wash/ white drybrush for the French sails. Yards painted in dark brown. I'm not 100% sure about these, what do you think?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6261189/SoG/10_FrenchSails.jpg

[Пилот]

A pennant often signified the commander's ship in a squadron. In the Royal Navy all commissioned ships flew a pennant from the mainmast, which was slender and long. A broad pennant distinguished a commodore's ship and if an Admiral was on board the ship flew a rectangular flag of the appropriate color (red, white or blue) from the main top. (From Nelson's Navy by Brian Lavery). I am not sure what the French did with flags and pennants.
Thanks a lot!

Uthoroc,

grey-washed sails also look good (although I prefer warmer-coloured brown-washed sails). Important thing is that ships have more natural look and the different fleets are easily distinguishable.

[Beowulf03809]

I really think the French looks good. Many of us are getting used to the brown-wash look so this is "different" and that takes time to adjust. If you had a couple more done and together I think you'll like it.

[Nightmoss]

I prefer the warmer brown wash and black yards, but the grey wash and brown yards will identify the ships as more clearly on the opposite side.

[7eat51]

It's hard to tell from the picture - being a closeup - but when you are standing back as players will be during a game, are the color differences pronounced enough to differentiate?

As for the look, in and of itself, it looks great. I think if you were to go with a darker brown, you would lose the differentiating effect.

I think using the grey wash on the French ships is appropriate since they didn't get out as much. :wink:

[Uthoroc]

Yes, I can quite clearly tell the ships apart from 2-3m. The more I look at the grey sails the more they grow on me. Working on the Courageuse in the same scheme now.

And I was thinking the same thing about the French being holed up in port. :thumbsup:

[7eat51]

Yes, I can quite clearly tell the ships apart from 2-3m. The more I look at the grey sails the more they grow on me. Working on the Courageuse in the same scheme now.

And I was thinking the same thing about the French being holed up in port. :thumbsup:

Awesome that the difference shows up. I think you have introduced a great scheme with the two different sail colors. :hatsoff:

[DeRuyter]

Not only does the wash provide weathering for the sails, it also highlights the rigging and reef points molded on them.

Here is a modern example of the grey wash effect (I know the material is synthetic but still)

8771

Of course the color of sails is also influenced by the sunlight, at least for photos of the ships. I have seen pictures of the Niagara where the sun appears to color the sails tan, like this:

8772

[Gunner]

To me the sails look a light grey with just a light dry brushing of Citadel's Seraphim Sepia shade.

[Пилот]

...when you are standing back as players will be during a game, are the color differences pronounced enough to differentiate?
...

That's the reason why I'm thinking about pennants :minis:

[Uthoroc]

I'm sticking with the grey sails, but I also came to the realization that my problems come from the brown yards. Somehow they don't fit the ships. I painted the Courageuse with black yards and like it much better. I'll probably redo the Genereux the same way.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fdVn5Le9Eeg/Uuudrmpf-nI/AAAAAAAAE70/Z_imxbWYSU4/w800-h516-no/11_GreySails1.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GR_ZS0mDY2o/Uuudro6AolI/AAAAAAAAE74/TcOJzs5kzRw/w800-h561-no/12_GreySails2.jpg

[fredmiracle]

I'm sticking with the grey sails, but I also came to the realization that my problems come from the brown yards. Somehow they don't fit the ships.

I was going to say that, but then I decided to avoid kibbutzing about something I know little about. My hunch was that maybe it looks better if it matches some color already on the ship? Most ships have black on them, so it fits right in. I suppose if you had a dark brown ship and used a very close dark brown color for the spars it might work just as well too (?)

[Пилот]

Black yards do look better. On the other hand, easy ship recognition is a bit lost...

[Uthoroc]

@fredmiracle: The Genereux has some dark brown on her deck which I tried to match, but it's probably not enough. But somehow the brown also stands out more than the black and attracts to much attention to the yards.

@Пилот: Not really, the main difference comes from the sails' shade. From a few feet away, you don't really see the color of the yards anymore.

[7eat51]

Another differentiator is enhancing the sides of the base. There is a discussion about that on another thread. If differentiation can be made, while keeping the aesthetics of the ship intact, to me, that is a winning combination. Ralf, if the sails are noticeable, and if bases have some form of differentiating marking, one should feel free as to painting all yards black, etc. This is helpful for me thinking through this stuff with you folks, especially at this stage of the game. I am picking up some good ideas here.

[Пилот]

@Пилот: Not really, the main difference comes from the sails' shade. From a few feet away, you don't really see the color of the yards anymore.
Glad to hear that :beer: