The Ship Model Forum

It turns out that, in addition to the familiar "white lead" and "red lead" pigments, there is "gray lead" (grey lead?).
Does anybody know what it is like? (FS match, stock model paint#, whatever...)
I have been unable to find out its chemical composition.

Weas

Thanks ,George,
As a trial I mixed 8 parts of Vallejo white to 1 part of black ,and I ended up with a slighly lighter shade of grey than Basalt Grey,so I lighten the Basalt colour ,and use that ,
Thanks to everybody for their input

Cheers Phil

Probably a silly question, but what is the density of white lead, compared to "ordinary black" paint?

I remember white lead being used, mixed with tallow, to protect wire standing rigging when I was in the Merchant Navy, awfully heavy messy stuff, so volume for volume I reckon the ratio would be somewhat less than 8 parts whitte to 1 part black.

I presume Marine Dryers was some sort of curring agent for the paint?

Si

Hi Phil,

Got your weight scale out? Here is a paint formula:

An early (circa 1909) edition of �The Ship Painters Handbook� by George S. Welch gives the following formula for �Dark Grey Paint�.
White Lead 73 lbs
Ordinary Black 9 lbs
Marine Dryers 7 lbs
Turpentine 6 pints
Raw Linseed Oil 16 pints
This would be 1:8.11 black white ratio, the other items would add yellow to the white. If you mix this ratio up using black and white paints the resulting 'Dark Grey' is surprisingly light.

Cheers,
George

You could go a bit lighter by adding one part white to eight parts basalt grey.
1907-1910 for me but no later don't like the cut down main mast

Roy

Thanks for the replies,Rob and Roy.I orginally planned to build my model as she appeared in WW1,but to me she didn`t look much like the orginal Dreadnought,so I wanted to do her as she looked circa 1910.After looking at photos in the AOTS book from that time the nearest grey I can think of is RAF Dark Sea Grey,and trawling though the Vallejo range the I came across Basalt Grey which is a dark blue grey,but not too dark,so as to obscure detail.I may give that a try.
Thanks ,Phil

Just a thought, she would probably look better in wartime light grey - she would certainly stand out more if you've got the references to update her.

R

Hi Phil,
I'm looking into that very same thing as i have just started a WIP. Big problem with the very dark grey is that it obliterates detail like you wouldn't believe so i may go for a bit of artistic licence. Rarely will the finished ship be seen in natural light anyway and i find that lighting at shows never does show off ships very well. Add on the fact that she'll be surrounded by 1/35 armour or 1/48 aircraft when on the club table so i need to make her stand out.

Roy

Can anyone suggest a Vallejo colour for the above paint?

Thank s Phil