Original-look paint for half model HMCo #486

[kdrolt]

I searched here and elsewhere for suggestions on original paint used on BYC knockabouts, specifically #486 circa 1897. I believe they were black below the WL and a slightly off-white above. Colors would be prettier but I'm aiming for originality. I have b+w photos but they are obviously not much help. I do have one color photo of #515 Blazing Star (stretched from the same NGH model) at Mystic SP Museum that's helpful, but it never hurts to ask about. Suggestions are welcome & thx in advance.

[Charles Barclay]

Interesting question.

LFH wrote about making their own bottom paint, I don't recall if he discussed making topside paint as well. 

Chances are good the hulls were repainted by a local yard every couple of years if not annually. 

Hodgdon's in Boothbay has been around since 1816, and certainly had plenty of Herreshoff's over the years in question.  Do you have a local yard that's been around for a 120 years or so?

Good luck.

[kdrolt]

I can ask at the Herreshoff Marine Museum, of course, and probably see if there is anything at the MIT Museum archives. All the old yards in MA and RI are closed. Good point about the regular repaints though. Thx

[HerreshoffHistory]

When in doubt off-white (not pure white, they didn't have it then!) above the waterline, and green below the waterline. Not glossy.

Green comes out black on black&white photos. Green was specified in many HMCo contracts.

[kdrolt]

TY. The off-white comment is noted. Do you have a Pantone green suggestion?

While I'm here, I am editing an early builder's plate photo, so I can make a CAD model of the HMCo logo & hull number, and then CNC it into a period-correct  "German" silver plate. I've got the German silver plate, but before I go that route, I've run one prototype in scrap aluminum plate but it needs work.  Does any reader have the center-to-center distances between the 4 fasteners on an early rectangle-type and can pst or msg me? I'll use what fits (scale as needed) when I make the half model plaque, but I would like to make it correct if possible. Thx in advance.

[HerreshoffHistory]

While you can't go very wrong with off-white and green, my sense is that it will be difficult to pin down exact color tones. These were probably changed over time as a function of what was available, who mixed the paint, personal tastes, etc. Pure white was simply unavailable because titanium dioxide as a whitening agent had not been invented yet. Likewise, stable high-gloss paint systems were unavailable back then, thus you may want to consider no gloss or low gloss paint.

The question about builder's plates is an interesting one because at this time we do not even know what kind of a builder's plate the boat had. Was it a plate like the one on #425s Wee Winn at the Herreshoff Museum or the very different but well-known rectangular German silver plate which is documented only for boats with a hull number of #515s or later. When in doubt probably choose the latter.

[kdrolt]

According to this thread:

https://www.herreshoffregistry.org/forum/index.php/topic,7.msg7.html#msg7

there were three styles used on sailboats (and/or all HMCo boats ?). #486 is from 1897 so it was definitely an early model, with no year on the plate.  Excellent point on the titanium dioxide; I worked for a paint chemist for a few years and I understand that entirely.