Shop  •   Avatar  •   FAQ  •   Search  •   Memberlist  •   Usergroups  •   Profile  •   Log in to check private messages  •   Log in  •  Register 

Had it with copper plate
Post new topic   Reply to topic     Forum Index -> Customization & Modding
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Sir W. Raleigh
Seaman
Posts: 151



4225 Gold -

PostPosted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:17 am    Post subject: Had it with copper plate Reply with quote

Okay, so maybe it's just me but I got sick of seeing all these ships sailing around with those shiny copper hulls.

It wasn't enough that copper sheathing of hulls wasn't even tried until the early 18th Century, and wasn't in widespread use until the latter half of that century.
Nor was it that the cost of such plating would surely preclude so many of these supposed mere merchants affording it.
No, it was that they made the copper hulls shiny for some reason, and that just would not do.

So I've made a set of textures to change that, and give the copper a suitably greenish-blue look. Can't quite get it just right because of the model insists on that material being "shiny", but its closer to what you'd really see in my opinion. See the "copperplate" screenshots here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9tlbi5g2cvjvxam/AADlUo2jz3drwNXLyiE9AjI7a?dl=0

I'm making these textures available for anyone who may wish to try them.
(I left out the one for the tartanes, since that's the one used for war canoes and I wouldn't want to mess with the crew's shiny speedboats.)

Available as "copperplate.zip" at this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/damut95hx94ojtq/AACv7R2WWFiK4xVegMs8oHXQa?dl=0
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Sir W. Raleigh
Seaman
Posts: 151



4225 Gold -

PostPosted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On an historical side-note regarding copper plating.

Copper began to be tried as a material for cladding of ships' hulls because it has certain properties which resist the adhesion of marine organisms such as barnacles and seaweed. Keeping a ship free of such growths was key to maintaining its speed, and of course letting sea worms eat your ship is never a good idea.

Sheathing of hulls with a wooden outer "skin" had been a common practice for a long time before the attempts to use copper. The idea being that the worms could have their way with that outer sheath, which could then be readily stripped away and replaced the next time the ship was in drydock.

At the time copper was first suggested and tried, electromagnetism and electrolytic reactions were barely recognized by many scientists of the day, let alone understood. So we may be charitable to the planners for not predicting what would happen when they bolted their shiny new copper plates onto a wooden hull with iron bolts throughout its construction (the frigate 'Alarm', by Knight's account), and then slid the whole assembly -- now basically a battery -- into seawater. So rapid was the corrosion that the Alarm had to have the copper plates removed less than five years later.

(BTW, iirc the ship name "Alarm" appears in SMP)

It would not be until 1775 or thereabouts that the problem of corrosion was resolved to the point that copper was once again studied for sheathing of hulls.


Orrah, but I do ramble when I've had a drop or three of the customary.
Laughing
For any interested, I found a good article on the subject (far superior to any you'll find on Wiki, imho) here:
http://www.rogerknight.org/pdf/The%20Introduction%20of%20Copper%20Sheathing.pdf

Wiki does have good info on the background and how and why copper works here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_sheathing
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

They actually had marine life that ate through the wood and the copper plating would protect the hull from this.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Sir W. Raleigh
Seaman
Posts: 151



4225 Gold -

PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Salty Dog wrote:
They actually had marine life that ate through the wood and the copper plating would protect the hull from this.


Aye, skipper, that be true. I mentioned those pesky critters in the first coupl'a paras precidin'. My beef here's not so much with the idea of it, for 'twas a good solution.

I'm just sayin' that any copper that was on a ship during the time period of SMP would have been greener'n Aunt Clara's false teeth, is all I'm sayin'.

Successful adoption of "coppering" had to await the development of a means by which the plating could be securely attached to the hull while at the same time preventing or at least greatly reducing the electron flows causing the corrosion. I think, but am not sure, that the use of "zincs" to reduce corrosion on ships was introduced around this time also.

Sailor

(The skins also make the ships less visible below waterline, which I find a beneficial side effect.)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic     Forum Index -> Customization & Modding All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group