American Frigates

[Diamondback]

Paint and markings from Chapelle's History of the American Sailing Navy:

It is rather curious that the painting of the ships of the Navy was left to the commander's taste for a very long period; at least no regulations concerning this have been found prior to the '30's. In the War of 1812, the American frigates were usually black, with a bright yellow streak along the gun ports, British fashion. This streak was usually as wide as the ports were high. The 74's had three such streaks if spar-decked, and two if the spar-deck waist was unarmed. Some vessels also had a narrow band on the mouldings, below the upper deck ports. Some frigates had rather wide yellow bands, reaching from a line about the height of the main deck to a couple of inches above the main-deck gun ports. During the War of 1812, the bands were extended forward on the cutwater. The port covers were often the same color as the band, and not checkerboarded in the Nelson style. The guns and port sills were black, tompions white, black, or red. About 1825, the yellow streaks or bands became very light in color and gradually they became white. Small craft, schooners, and brigs, began to use streaks that were only half the depth of the ports; these had their lower edge at port-sill height and ran the whole length of the hull, out onto the cutwater. The inside of the bulwarks, from waterways to rail, was usually red or brown, until the late '30's, when white became common. Decks were left "bright" and holystoned in the Navy throughout the sailing-ship period. Deck furniture and the sills of deck structures were red, but later, when bulwarks became white, they were painted the same color. Mastheads, bowsprit, and royal masts in small vessels were painted black; the lower masts and topmasts of large ships were black until well into the '30's, when white was used. Billetheads were yellow, or green and white. Finally, about 1840, the billets were often painted white without gilding. By 1836 some of the small men-of-war, schooners and brigantines, began to omit the port band entirely, retaining only a yellow or white moulding line in some; in others the side was wholly black.

And some data that will help with making a ship-sloop sculpt work, same source:
Doughty was given complete freedom in the designs of the new ships, apparently, as the scanty correspondence indicates that no extensive directions were given him. It is highly probable that the designs of the sloops were intended to be improvements of the earlier Wasp and Hornet, of increased size and power. As a result, the two sloop designs of 1813 were on the same dimensions—117' 11'' between perpendiculars, 31' 6" moulded beam, and 14' 6" depth of hold—but were not of the same model. The Argus, Erie, and Ontario drew 4' 8'' more water at the sternpost than at the stem, while Wasp, Peacock, and Frolic had a difference of but i' 9''. As designed, the two classes had the same appearance above the water, except that the Argus class had no quarter galleries or quarter badges.

Implication: Wasp (I), Hornet, Erie, Ontario, Wasp (II), Peacock and Frolic can all share a sculpt. Gives us HMS Peacock (ex- old Wasp) and HMS Florida as reflags, four SKU's with an odd-man-out. Argus was burned on the stocks unfinished so doesn't count.