[M ELEY]

Wow, Rick! I didn't know about the red color scheme! As Jim pointed out, quite grim, yet isn't the color red supposed to fire up the senses as well? Good for battle, perhaps?
I remember reading about the assortment of paints used not only for ships, but houses of the colonial era. There were really only about eight or ten primary colors. I had gotten interestd when i saw a Prussian coehorn cannon late 18th that was painted a garish powder blue. After doing research, I found out it was the real color for that regiment!! White paint back in the day quickly faded to a yellow, including on ships. The 'red' color of the day was typically a barn red and not the cherry red we think of. Ships were trypically only painted perhaps two colors (white and black, black and yellow, etc) unless a grand ship-of-the-line, such as the Vasa (pictured in all of it's excesses!). I'm thinking perhps the pikes might have been painted to match the surrounding vessel, but I am only guessing at that!