Jump to content

Significance (if any) of Cabin Top Diamond Colours


Featured Posts

Image may contain: indoor

 

Time to freshen up this.

 

We don't know if there is any significance to the colours that had been used previously or if it is just an interpretation of something the previous owner liked. We were just going to get it repainted the same. The painter has suggested a change.

 

I guess we need to understand how and why the colours were chosen in days of yore to decide whether we will be breaking some tradition that is not known to us if we change things. 

 

Can anyone outline the heritage surrounding the diamond design on the cabin top please?

 

It would be lovely to see loads of photos of diamonds to compare too so please spam this thread with as many photos as you like :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Ray

 

Not many of your photos show the colour schemes of the diamonds too clearly. I had seen a deck board in Colours of The Cut which seems to reflect the colours we have.

 

I have seen boats with an emerald green in the diamonds and possibly an orange too but I have no idea if these are just personal taste (whether current day or that of the steerer back in the day) or if there is some tradition to the colours used depending on the company who owned the boats

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jan, many of the older photo's I have are mostly from an oblique angle. I have tried to keep clear of modern interpretations as the further away from the past the less accurate some schemes can become. It is always a problem with trying to recreate the past, there were so many variations. Speaking with some of the working boaters  I'm sure they were not as worried about colour schemes as we can be. 

 

 

Edited by Ray T
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ray T said:

Jan, many of the older photo's I have are mostly from an oblique angle. I have tried to keep clear of modern interpretations as the further away from the past the less accurate some schemes can become. It is always a problem with trying to recreate the past, there were so many variations. Speaking with some of the working boaters  I'm sure they were not as worried about colour schemes as we can be. 

 

 

Yes agreed

Many older photos may not be from a great angle and, as it is the colours I am interested in monotone photos are no help at all. 

 

"Modern Interpretations" on modern boats would be best avoided I think but modern interpretations on historic or replica boats where it is known the owner has tried to keep the boat sympathetic to the heritage would be interesting to see. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, cheshire~rose said:

Yes agreed

Many older photos may not be from a great angle and, as it is the colours I am interested in monotone photos are no help at all. 

 

"Modern Interpretations" on modern boats would be best avoided I think but modern interpretations on historic or replica boats where it is known the owner has tried to keep the boat sympathetic to the heritage would be interesting to see. 

I can’t answer the question as I don’t know the significance or origin but note that in the monochrome photos that all four colours remain identifiably different. I have also been told that there is a logic to the sequence and that the two sets of darker and lighter colours are in opposition when arranged as a square such as at the top of a stand in the hold. Monochrome is a proxy to visibility in poor light.


JP

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 I have also been told that there is a logic to the sequence and that the two sets of darker and lighter colours are in opposition when arranged as a square such as at the top of a stand in 


JP

 

This is correct .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given she (Delhi) is a station boat, there is little  formal correctness or tradition to follow ,  so you could do something fabulous , with the black maroon and gold of Lms.

Did you ever see Mecca with the lime green handrails, as bought by us. Wow that was different....

Sorry cream not gold..

Mind you we have never had any of our boats ‘correct’

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

Given she (Delhi) is a station boat, there is little  formal correctness or tradition to follow ,  so you could do something fabulous , with the black maroon and gold of Lms.

Did you ever see Mecca with the lime green handrails, as bought by us. Wow that was different....

Was this MECCA No 50 a Bantock hull? Came through Sutton Stop last Wednesday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ray T said:

Was this MECCA No 50 a Bantock hull? Came through Sutton Stop last Wednesday.

There are 3 old boats called Mecca.

The Bantock you mentioned which moors at Bugbrooke, listed as Mecca no 50. She is an older conversion , nice Bcn boat.

Then there is Mecca- circa 45 ft the old stern end of Lms butty,  (rescued off the Stratford canal in 1990s. ) , and owned by Gordon at Warwickshire Fly. Of course with a motor stern , and I think converted by Warwickshire Flyboat co. 

Then there is the old fore end of  Lms Mecca about 50 foot worth which is the bit we used to have. Again with a motor stern by Simon Wain, and now 70 foot, full conversion.

Walked away and went to Australia..

798917FE-9D1A-45EE-8B82-113112CF8A9A.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, cheshire~rose said:

The painter has suggested a change.

I guess the first question is why? Is his motivation aesthetic or historic?

 

To me, what shows up in the photos people have offered is that the size of the diamonds varied - the colour scheme may or may not have done but where diamonds were the size yours are they are consistent with it. Four colours, each diamond bounded by the same contrasting colour on opposite sides. However some diamonds were much bigger

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

There is a Facebook thread running on this as well

 

No shit Sherlock ;) 

3 hours ago, roland elsdon said:

Given she (Delhi) is a station boat, there is little  formal correctness or tradition to follow ,  so you could do something fabulous , with the black maroon and gold of Lms.

Did you ever see Mecca with the lime green handrails, as bought by us. Wow that was different....

Sorry cream not gold..

Mind you we have never had any of our boats ‘correct’

As you say, apart from the white on the bow we have the ability to interpret the livery as we choose which does leave plenty of scope for amendments. No I don't think I ever saw Mecca 

 

For cream read "Straw" 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, magpie patrick said:

I guess the first question is why? Is his motivation aesthetic or historic?

 

To me, what shows up in the photos people have offered is that the size of the diamonds varied - the colour scheme may or may not have done but where diamonds were the size yours are they are consistent with it. Four colours, each diamond bounded by the same contrasting colour on opposite sides. However some diamonds were much bigger

For aesthetic reasons. 

 

We had suggested it could stay the same but having looked at it for a couple of days when taking a break from finishing his previous job he mentioned something that struck him about it. Having seen numerous examples of his finished work we are fairly sure he has an eye for what "looks right" (as is often the case with signwriters in my experience over the years) Because it was not a change we had considered and not knowing the relevance (if any) behind the existing scheme I wanted to look at others to get a general feel of different interpretations 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’d stick with freshening up the original, both in terms of diamond size and colours and possibly adding a thin black line between them. I’m not aware of any significance of diamonds, other than a decorative element. Bright red, chrome yellow, white and French blue are already there. I’ve done a good few cabin top diamonds in those colours. Remember the signwriter’s maxim....if it looks right, it is right....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although I contemplated painting them a couple of times, I neveractually  had diamonds on the roof however, I have always had them on the deck board. The pattern is traditional, having been advised on it by Ron Hough, but the colours are not, being Dark Green, Maroon, White, and Straw. I always liked the colours, which are the same as the boat's livery, so they were repeated with each re-paint.

 

892456114_TamhornFarmBridge01(d).JPG.9f558a8c9cf96bb9bd12810821b64e49.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.