Fokker DR1 questions

Nov 13, 2007 8 Replies
D

I am building the Roden 1:32 DR1. Got a couple of questions. I have a French mag, Replic, that shows shoulder harnesses in both the kit buildup and a real DR1 in a museum. Did they really use shoulder harnesses in WW1? I thought those came in the twenties and thirties. Were they added to the museum plane later, or were they original equipment.



The green over green brushed finish- was this some sort of camoulflage, or just a protective finish. Why is it applied in a diagonal pattern on the wing- camoulflage, or just brushing with a covering bias?



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P

Well, in this case, I can get you some pretty good evidence that they were on the original aircraft during the war, via Rosebud's WW I aviation photo collection:

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's Heinrich Gontermann's crashed DR1 showing the shoulder harness. Rosebud's is a great source for reference photos of WWI aircraft for modelers:
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Pat

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D

collection:

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That's Heinrich Gontermann's crashed DR1 showing the shoulder harness.

Wow, that second web site is really a dandy.

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P

collection:

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> That's Heinrich Gontermann's crashed DR1 showing the shoulder harness.

Check out the postcards section for fun stuff:

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here's what happens when a aeroplane falls out of the sky onto a horse and car:
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Pat

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M

IIRC, the top of the fuselage should also show diagonal brush strokes. I don't know the reason why but camouflage might be a good answer since all horizontal surfaces seem to be brushed the same.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

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T

Several books on the DR.1 outline the painting procedure at the factory. It was painted overall light blue. Then some poor schlub had to pick up a wide brush, dip it in green paint, and apply brushstrokes in a vertical pattern on vertical surfaces and diagonal on horizontal surfaces. Depending on how often he reloaded his brush, you could get an almost solid green fading to almost blue creating a somewhat "barber pole" effect. hth The Keeper

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M

Hey, it kept him away from the Front.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

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T

te:

LOL! Can't go wrong there! Of course at the front another schlub with a brush painted some more markings on it obscuring the fine camouflage. Cheers, The Keeper

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