Funnel topping colour

[Michael C Brady]

Dear ET,

I was hoping some of the Empress experts among you could help me out.
I was wondering about the paintscheme of her funnels at the time of her sinking. I have variously seen the ship depicted as having funnels painted in all 'buff', as in the liners of Norddeutscher Lloyd, or with the upper part painted black like those funnels of Olympic, Titanic etc. My questions are two-fold;

1. I have referred to the funnel's body colour as 'buff'. Does anybody know what exactly this colour was - whether a yellow, pink, buff etc. I am not familiar with the Canadian-Pacific line colours. An approximation would do!
2. Were the funnels all-'buff' or were their tops painted black at some point in the ship's career?

If indeed the ship were launched with all-'buff' funnels it would make sense that they were eventually painted black at the top to hide unsightly soot marks.

The reason I am asking this is I hope to complete a profile of the vessel in a similar vein to my other works here;
https://www.linerdesigns.com/white-star-line

Any input is greatly appreciated!

~Mike

 

[Michael C Brady]

Perhaps answering my own question here
But it seems as if the funnels recieved black topping further into her career. Here she is early on in her career although I am not sure of the date. One can see the black soot building up at the top of the funnels.

This one is supposedly dated to the day she sank; black topping painted top the funnels is here in place.

~Mike