Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister_M
Nice work gap. Very few ships are painted all grey. But something is interesting : it seems that buff superstructures are part of the camouflage system. Indeed, look at the tanker British Genius : original funnel colors are not buff.
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Definitely. This is in confirmation of kapuhy's findings
Quote:
Originally Posted by kapuhy
- Early war British regulations were supposedly different:
"black hulls and funnels, with brown or dark buff superstructure, masts and derricks"
vs later in the war:
"dark grey hull and funnel, with brown or dark buff as above"
and by 1943:
"By 1943 Allied shipping was pretty standardised on all over grey. However the exact shade could vary depending on what was available. Where possible many still used dark grey hull and lighter upper works."
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Black or grey hulls with buff upperworks are dominant in this particular convoy, but apparently there was a certain level of discretionality on how to combine the recommended colours. An interesting variation on the theme are bicolor hulls: black to light grey near the waterline and bluff on top.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister_M
Maybe it was because grey paint was in short supply, and they used buff paint to do the rest... Another fun fact : the hull has a camo pattern.
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mmm... I am not sure about the camo patterrn, those sketches are way too small for us to appreciate such a fine details, but have you noticed the neutrality markings near the bows of the two Swedish freighters (Suecia and Lima)?
Here are a few pictures for visual reference:
I think similar markings are also visible on the hull of Kors Holm in the drawings of the 1941 Convoy that you have studied.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister_M
Else, the Ellerman's Hall Line seems to have decided to repaint all funnels in orange...   |
Yes, those orange funnels really puzzled me. Orange is definitely not what you would call a "dull" colour, but maybe they are just bluff with some colored bands, and they look orange because of the poor resolution
