Choosing A Colour Scheme

[FadeToScarlet]

light blue with a wide white border and red oxide roof. Chosen for us by Severn and Canal in the early C20th.

 

I really wish they'd not chosen black handrails in weather like this, though.

[nicknorman]

We like our graphite grey with red bits (roof is grey at the front, red oxide at the back. Of course, after only 2.5 years, the bright red is showing signs of fading on top (handrails). The rest remains shiny though!

 

 

The grey looks a bit dull in the photo, but its a nice rich grey in reality - RAL 7024

Edited July 25, 2013 by nicknorman

[mark99]

It may be worth trawling through boatbuilders websites eg Braidbar Boats as they have some really nice examples of various colour schemes on their new builds.

 

EG "Recent Builds" (4 pages) section of the above mentioned.

 

http://www.braidbarboats.co.uk/hundred/

[aread2]

See Tony Lewery's Book "Colours of the Cut". Just about every canal carrying company's livery. Tons of ideas for colour schemes.

[FadeToScarlet]

See Edward Paget-Tomlinson's Book "Colours of the Cut". Just about every canal carrying company's livery. Tons of ideas for colour schemes.

[aread2]

Greenie for that. It's what comes of not checking my references.

[Gingerbeer]

Can boat colors be custom mixed by using paint cards that you find in place like B&Q? I never see any blue/green colors on boats, just the green. Is it possible to get various shades of one color?

 

If you want to come up with color schemes, google color wheel (or buy one) and find one that has many shades of each color on it. You can choose to stay in the same color group, find a color you like and look at the color on the opposite side for a contrast, or choose a color from each side of the one you like.

[Québec]

Google 'narrowboat', click on 'images'....take your pick

[FadeToScarlet]

 

OK the shade is probably too light according to Colours of the Cut to be accurate, but I think it's a very smart combination.

[Dekazer]

Google 'narrowboat', click on 'images'....take your pick

 

You'd be amazed how little inspiration I found on Google images, having tried various search strings. Hence posting here

[Gingerbeer]

Guilty as charged!

The last time she was painted, by a professional, she was silver, pink and purple, so to me she is not outlandish.

But as far as re sale goes, she is my home and I do not plan to sell her. I am not a "traditional" person and neither is the boat, after all she is a at least 25 year old ex hire boat, with the scars to prove it.

 

Post a pic of your boat. I would love to see the colors on it.

[Québec]

When we were trying to work out a colour scheme I designed a very simple, basic 'Paint Job Ideas' programme using Powerpoint on a PC. Here's an image of one I made earlier. Once you've downloaded the Powerpoint programme, just click on the various areas of colour to change them.

 

Happy to share.Can be downloaded from Google docs.

(Once the preview of the three boats appears on screen, the Powerpoint programme needs to be downloaded and then opened and/or saved, using the either the 'arrow' icon (top left under 'File') or Ctrl+S. Don't save the preview..it's just an image.)

 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5WORDU4USM7d0FQcDJSTFZZNTA/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

Edited August 9, 2013 by Québec

[Jim Batty]

Afternoon all

 

We're thinking about changing the colour of our boat. It needs a paint anyway, as it's getting a bit tired, but we reckon it'd be nice to go for a new colour scheme. To help us choose our colour scheme, I've got a few questions -

 

How did you choose your boat's colour scheme? ...

 

 

If you have the software:

 

1) Photograph the boat from the side

2) Open it up in PhotoShop (or similar)

3) On separate layers outline all the individually coloured bits

4) Spontaneously and inspirationally apply different combinations of colours to the different bits. Save each combination that seems half-decent as a separate file for later (naming these files after the colour scheme helps later confusion)

5) Add or subtract coachlines, panels and such to see what these might look like.

 

For real precision, get a colour chart of marine paints (Epifanes, Rylard, or whatever) and only use close matches of those colours in PhotoShop (otherwise you'll end up looking for 'near-matches' on the shelves)

 

Or, we also found going into a chandlers and gathering together various tins of paint with their colours printed on the lids, and re-arranging them in various combinations and standing back and squinting and imagining them on a boat narrowed the field and gave us an idea of what we liked/didn't like and what worked/didn't work. I think most chandlers are quite tolerant of this sort of behaviour.

 

We used a combination of the above to do the bow decoration like this

Edited August 12, 2013 by Jim Batty

[Gingerbeer]

Found this website for putting colours together. Not sure if anyone still needs it or not.

 

http://colourco.de/

[Robertduncan567]

On 12/08/2013 at 18:53, Jim Batty said:

 

 

If you have the software:

 

1) Photograph the boat from the side

2) Open it up in PhotoShop (or similar)

3) On separate layers outline all the individually coloured bits

4) Spontaneously and inspirationally apply different combinations of colours to the different bits. Save each combination that seems half-decent as a separate file for later (naming these files after the colour scheme helps later confusion)

5) Add or subtract coachlines, panels and such to see what these might look like.

 

For real precision, get a colour chart of marine paints (Epifanes, Rylard, or whatever) and only use close matches of those colours in PhotoShop (otherwise you'll end up looking for 'near-matches' on the shelves)

 

Or, we also found going into a chandlers and gathering together various tins of paint with their colours printed on the lids, and re-arranging them in various combinations and standing back and squinting and imagining them on a boat narrowed the field and gave us an idea of what we liked/didn't like and what worked/didn't work. I think most chandlers are quite tolerant of this sort of behaviour.

Also here you can find the right or suitable palette, there is https://create.vista.com/colors/palettes/space-color-palette/  just a huge choice and use it, or even I really like this one, so you can achieve integrity and harmony in the color scheme, I personally use them all the time.

We used a combination of the above to do the bow decoration like this

Thank you very much for the widely posted information, it will be very useful for me, as it will speed up the creation process a lot, choosing a color takes a huge part of the time, and now it's just a matter of minutes, thank you.

[reg]

On 25/07/2013 at 17:05, nicknorman said:

, the bright red is showing signs of fading on top (handrails).

Just as an aside It is my understanding that red will always fade irrespective of any preparation. It was suggested to me by Rylards that it wasn't the best choice for the main body colour due to this fading. 

Certainly no reason not to use it if its limitations are known and it fits in with a  repainting schedule. 

Edited May 25, 2022 by reg

[Jim Batty]

I haven't googled anything in years ... but a few moments on DuckDuckGo discovers this nice bit of info:

 

Quote

Under most circumstances, red fades the fastest of all visible colors. Short-wavelength light such as blue or violet has greater energy than lower-wavelength light, and red has the longest wavelength of visible colors. Red objects reflect red light but absorb harmful, energy-rich, short-wavelength light.

And:

Quote

When light, particularly ultraviolet light, which has a very short wavelength, hits an object, the energy contained within interacts with the exposed surface. The new energy excites the outer molecules of the object causing chemical bonds, thus reducing the vibrancy of the color and the strength of the object over time. Color and molecular damage can never be repaired.

 

Red sounds positively dangerous when it's put this way!

[SteveLevis]

We had our last (syndicate) boat repainted in the same colour scheme as it seemed a simpler option than having to "vote" on other options. This design involved 3 basic colours with lines, however in hindsight I think we should have changed it to a simpler design that would make touching up a lot simpler.....particularly as the paint started to peel off within the first 3 months.....

[LadyG]

I have now painted my boat twice.

When I bought it everything was boring blue, nothing much wrong with it, but I decided to rub it down and paint it grey.

If I wanted to spend more time cruising and not much time painting, I would have sanded and painted (white grey) only the front and  back cabin sides, not doors. White grey roof. Gloss red on the rubbing strakes , rear area, and tiller and off you go, about a week' 

My original choice was Rustoleum Combi Color Grey, which I thought was trendy, but it's not, it looks like primer.

By this year, I had decided on grey white marine paint undercoat / matt topcoat (SML own brand) for the roof and grey white satin gloss (SML) for the sides.  SML provide technical advice, as do Rawlins paints.

Now, my original idea was to do lovely contrasting yellow and red coach lines, this did not work, due to lack of skill, so had to be sanded down and painted grey, so in the end I had a two colour grey boat and later painted roof lighter to keep boat cool.

My second attempt has been successful imho. Though I know I might have to change the rear doors, sometime.

The sides are satin gloss from SML, they call it gloss, but a high gloss would show scratches, so satin finish is fine.

The detail is black gloss, Sandtex ten year Gloss, it is glossy. I used Sandtex undercoat and it was super easy to use.

I have painted doors black gloss as they don't show fingerprints, and I have plenty of paint.

I tried the gunwales black gloss, but ended up with blue grey satin from SML marine paint for definition. This paint should be fine to touch up..

My rubbing strakes are still Sandtex red gloss over red oxide. 

 

I have four inch broad lines of black gloss, on cabin sides, two horizontal and four or five vertical on each side. I think it looks pretty smart, essentially pale silver white with black detail and red highlights.

 

One. unforseen consequence is the white shows up from a distance, which is handy. Someone remarked it looked smart! WOWl.

It took ten days in the tunnel (power is essential, good tools, good weather). If there is any rust, add another two days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by LadyG