The following 2 questions has always interested & confused me at the same time. I’ve never actually read anything that explains it to me. This will take me sometime to explain, so please excuse me for the length of my question.
Why do they paint the draft line black followed by the area of the hull below the waterline in red?
I understand how to read draft lines, therefore I can only assume it’s to do with making it easier to see whether the ship’s design draft capacity is over- or under-limit if the red is seen above the waterline. Is this true??
Ok, now that presents me with my second dilemma.
Why do ship modelers persist on painting the hull below the waterline shiny/glossy or even unweathered red/dull-red or hull-red?
I ask this question cos every picture I see of ship in drydock, even if it’s before launching or when it’s in for repairs, it has a faded orange-red colour - which is no where near the colour us ship builders paint. Some of us get so caught up in finding out the exact hull & deck colours, and the colours of every damn object on a ship, and then we weather the ship to some degree, all the time forgetting to think about below the waterline. You see it all the time with ship modellers painting rust markings on the hull which seem to disappear as soon as that shiny red hull is reached.
The only time I see a dirty weathered hull is on sub models, so why should ships be treated any differently - I’ve heard of the expression to keep everything in tip-top condition on a ship, but doesn’t it seem a bit strange?
Luke with respect to the “Boot Topping”. That’s the Black stripe. I can’t tell you exactly why (and I’m a Navy vet). But one instruction I have says the boot topping will be from the lowest draft level (empty), to 6 inches above the fully loaded level.
One explanation for the black boot topping is so that oil slicks and other detritus, particularly in harbour, wouldn’t be as noticable on the paint job.
Also there is nothing special about red under-hulls; that is the most prominent colour although some ships have black anti-fouling paint.
I also would not heavily weather the lower hull. It was not subject to the same spray action or minor bumps and scrapes as the upper hull, thus the paint stayed intact a lot better, not permitting rust to take hold. Ships I have seen hauled out for maintenance do not show much weathering below the waterline, one exception would be those berthed for extended periods or operated in tropical climates that would let marine growths attach.
As far as I know the reason for the Boot Topping is mainly cosmetic Ie dirt dings and damage. It could be any colour the company liked.
The anti fouling could be any colour that the paint came in. Some is self polishing and therefore has little weathering.
As a final point do not asume that any ship has boot topping. Some ships in their career changed from having to not having and back again. The Cutty Sark is a case in point.
The anti fouling on period ships is a study all its own. From tallow inpregnated with glass through copper, Monnel Metal(Cutty Sark),tar known as Whistable Varnish to modern paints.
Dai
I had always heard that the reason for the black boot was that in combat, if damaged, observers could tell whether the ship was listing port or starboard, or down by the bow or stern.
The black is navy only. Many civilian ships have a white boot top. I’m guessing that the early days of painting steel ships had the navies mixing paint for durability and the chemical mixture came out red, not unlike barns or cabooses though not the same paint.