I've got a question for the historians.

Erm, so, as in the title, what would the crew of a late 18th century British ship look like?

Here's what I'm thinking. I'd like some crew members for my Indefatigable. I have a 3d printer on the way. I've got a vague idea of how to generate pictures and models (thanks @TMJ).

I've been reading up on how to paint figures better.

I just need to print some actual figures.

I'm a bit stuck as to what crew would be aboard and what they'd be dressed in. Has anybody got any good references or resources to help me with some research?

Ok, so @Salty had a great idea for me, which was to watch Master and Commander and Hornblower- since the studios did a lot of research into authenticity. This is a fun project: pouring a beer, putting the tv on, and doing some "historical research". I will do this.

Meanwhile, so far, I can't find any useful drawings or images online as to what, say, a bunch of 1794 deck hands would be wearing.

There is a certain amount of irony here, since The Admiral is an expert on historical costumes and indeed we have most of a spare bedroom full of historical costumes for the historical "fashion shows" she puts on round the country- but unfortunately, her expertise is on women's clothing, and she gazes over at any mention of navy uniforms.

For 3d printing, asking AI to give me some images gives some, erm, interesting ideas, but I'm not sure if I want to populate my Indefatigable with a load of cartoon pirates.

And what ranks would be aboard? I was looking at Woody's Model Works- he sells entire crews for HMS Victory... Officers; Royal Marines, Deckhands, Riggers, but I think the fun for me is doing some research and messing around with a 3d printer to make my own figures, rather than buying them in.

Can anybody point me in the direction of a useful rabbit hole on this subject?

Considering that you have 99 posts right now, there are dozens of really good figures already made and redy for 3D printing in our STL library. So before you go crazy, just make one more post!!!

Chuck

These books are a useful reference.

You would find some of the pictures closely resemble some 3d printed models you may have seen.

@Chuck - One more post huh- erm, what should I post about?

Yes, I was planning to take advantage of your stl files..... thank you for making these available. If I can get these to print out ok- I'll be on the right lines.

I am looking forwards to populating my ship with some of your cats and rats.

The problem is- you lead me astray when you made figures of yourself and your family..... what a fun idea! And I started thinking... instead of buying figures in from people who really know what they're doing, or using files made by others, wouldn't it be more fun to create my own? It's more "work" (play)- but then again- there's certain super-helpful people who have generously posted entire tutorials here on how to create files using AI and meshy.... I could learn a lot from them....!

I'm perfectly happy being blatantly silly with my Indefatigable: I wouldn't have been happy if my captain's cabin didn't have the Tennis Girl picture. And yet, I don't want to create my own figures which are supposed to be in the ball-park of accurate, but instead turn out to have hats from the wrong century.

I want to understand what the crew SHOULD look like before I start putting them in superman T-shirts.

@Blue Ensign ... Thank you so much! That's exactly what I'm looking for! These are the books that all my internet searches didn't suggest to me... I'll order these right away. Much appreciated.

There is an interesting entry in "The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea": Sailors' Dress, which gives an overview.

The book is available at archive.org

@Kauz ... thanks for that, I'll take a look! Much appreciated.