Paint colours on P&A Campbell steamers

[E Pinniger]

I'm currently building a model of P&A Campbell's "Britannia" from an old Model Boats plan (the model is 1/64 scale, 43" long, and represents the ship in post-war fit with two funnels). I plan to post a build thread here when/if I manage to get the model sailing. I've now reached the stage of painting the hull, and have some questions about this - P&A Campbell's steamers had quite a complex paint scheme. I have numerous books and magazine articles with information on the subject, but there are quite a few areas I'm unsure about.

Firstly, the colour of the upper hull (from the deck to the level of the anchor hawsepipe) - a Model Shipwright article on modelling "Cardiff Queen" states this as "French Grey" - a web search shows this to be a light-to-medium neutral grey colour (fairly close to Halfords grey primer!), but the colour photo on the cover of the book "White Funnel Memories" shows Cardiff Queen with the upper hull a very pale grey, almost off-white colour. And the Britannia plan sheet gives the upper hull colour as "lavender"!

Secondly, the green stripe at the waterline. This is very thin (2mm on the model) on the plan,  but all the photos I can find of Britannia and other P&A Campbell ships show it as much wider (equivalent to about 10-15mm in 1/64 scale), so I assume the plan is incorrect. What I'm unsure about is the colour. The plan simply states "light green" but the aforementioned colour photo of Cardiff Queen shows a very pale bluish-green colour, more or less "duck egg" blue (or RAF Sky, for aircraft modellers!). Is this correct?

Finally, regarding the moulding/rubbing strake at the edge of the deck, described as "teak brown" in the Cardiff Queen article, is this actual teak wood or simply painted brown? I assume the latter as it appears to be the same colour as the bow bulwark, which is definitely painted.

[R.G.Y.]

Nice to find a P&A Campbell ship build. I am posting a photo of my Glen Usk. She is steam driven and was completed in 2002.  I was lucky enough to find an ex Campbell's engineer living only 2 miles from me.   (Now deceased I am sad to say). Previous to my meeting, a friend of his built him a model of the Bristol Queen. He told me the shape of the sponsons. So they fell out and they never spoke again. This will tell you the nature of the man. So I was very pleased when I took my model to him. After studying for 10 minutes with just an occasional grunt, he looked up and said the whistle is to small. Later he said the red on the bottom of the hull was to light.
So the colours, french grey very light grey with a hint of pink. The port holes in this band have a yellow band around them (6inch)and brown 1inch out side that.The boot topping should be 2ft wide with a slight increase at the bow, colour bright green (light) don't trust photo colours (depends on the film and sun light) top rubbing strake painted brown . inside vents royal blue with gold pin stripe on lip. hope this helps any thing else I can do ask. Geoff

[E Pinniger]

Thanks for the information, interesting to see your model of Glen Usk.
I also found a thread with photos of Balmoral in P&A colours (http://www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4677.0) which should help too. The slight pinkish tone of the grey is noticeable in the closeup photos, though I think I'll go for a very pale neutral grey on my model rather than attempt mixing a paint that doesn't look too bright. "RAF Sky" does look like the closest paint match for the boot stripe colour.

One final question, should the lower of the two paint bands on the hull be metallic gold, or just golden yellow as seen in the Balmoral photos?

[R.G.Y.]

You pays your money and make your choice.  The band would be yellow, name on bow would gold, name on stern white. I hope you will look at my latest Duke of Devonshire. Geoff

[E Pinniger]

Thanks again for the information! Britannia's hull is now painted (minus the name lettering which will be added later), I've taken some photos and hopefully will get a build log started within the next week or so.

[R.G.Y.]

Looking forward to seeing the pictures . Geoff

[E Pinniger]

I have one more P&A-related question which is at least partly regarding paint colour. Britannia (post-refit at least) has a companionway hatch structure forward of the wheelhouse, this is a small boxy structure with a sloped roof and has a "footprint" of about 5x2.5cm in 1/64 scale. The plans I have don't show anything other than the basic outline of the structure, though it obviously has a hatch/door of some sort on the taller side facing the wheelhouse.

Any ideas as to how this structure was painted (based on the rest of the ship, I'm guessing that it was white or possibly French Grey with the roof either varnished teak or painted light brown), whether it had any portholes or other fittings on it, and what the hatch(es) looked like?
I can't find any photos of this area and also haven't able to catch a glimpse of it on the various videos of Britannia (mainly due to the canvas-covered forward railings as well as the large number of passengers on deck!)

[R.G.Y.]

Sorry for the delay in trying to answer you question. Having studied my archive yes there is something in front of the chart room, with a white top and dark sides (wood). However it could not be an access hatch, as it would be above the saloon on the main deck below. The entrance to the saloon is behind the bridge and under the chart room.       
 My conclusion is it was for deck chair storage being to big for a lifebelt locker.  I have a photo of storm damage aboard Cambria (sister ship to Britannia) which shows the remains of a box (flat top) with shelving inside. The only other possibility is a skylight but with large windows (before the refit) make this unnecessary.
I see you have added a hatch any way.
This is only an educated guess.  I have found if I am not sure of something, leave it out if possible. Unfortunately on a model it can't be covered by smoke or steam like in a painting.  I think you are doing a brilliant job with Britannia.
 Geoff

[E Pinniger]

Thanks again for the reply (didn't see it until I logged in today). I did wonder about the "companionway" as it looked far too narrow + low for one, but I thought there had to be passenger access to the interior somewhere! I'd already added a door behind the bridge (the plan didn't show one, but I suspected there would be one there).

[R.G.Y.]

Sorry I mist your post, no doors, open to the stair. Don't worry I won't tell R.G.Y.