GNW Swedish Pikes - how long?

[Durutti]

Ok
Daft question time
I've got some of the Ebor GNW Swedes, and I'm not sure just how long their pikes should be, the ones supplied with the figures look a bit too short, and I tend to use wire to make pikes, so much less bendy.
I need to make up some replacements.

So gents, how long are your 28mm Swedish pikes?   

[WillieB]

I'm using the Warfare Swedes but essentially they are the same aren't they?
I've cut all my pikes to 7cm length. Still imposingly enough and still able to fit them in a normal foam case. And not so long I look like a hedgehog after playing with them.....

[traveller]

There seems to be some different data on this in Swedish historical texts varying from 4-5,5 meter

[Baron von Nickedoften]

Any ideas on colours (of the pike shafts)?  I've read "black" was quite common, but not clear if this was genuine black as in paint, or merely a very dark staining to preserve the wood (as was the case with late 17th/early 18th Century British musket stocks, also often described as black).

[traveller]

Pikeshafts were made of wood and not painted. Over time these could be expected to darken which might explain the "black" description. Please see the attached link where Swedish re-enactors holds pikes and a half-pike

http://www.smalandskaroliner.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/051.jpg

[The Grim Mariner]

As others have said they were very long.  4-5m in length. My issue with that is they look odd when actually put on the figure.

If we take a 28mm figure as being of average height (around 1.7m) for the period, then the pike needs to be nearly 3 times the height of the figure, or around 70-100mm in length.  On the tabletop that looks just too long to me so I cut mine down to between 50-70mm.  Still look long but not unwieldy.

As for colour I use a variety of browns from pale almost white to dark.