WWI aircraft colours

on 11/5/2007 6:54 PM Wulf Corbett said the following:

Google 'WWI aircraft colors'

I tried, I get hundreds of results, most on specific aircraft types, very few with any idea of whether there are useful (to me) illustrations in the books. There are online resources, but I've yet to find more than a few in the same place.

Wulf

Here's some inspirational stuff, but you want to double check (googling is pretty good) how recent research shows these planes to be. Wings Palette... they mine the internet for profiles and some are pretty good. Others are... well ..crap. But it's a start, and it's free.

If you're really into modeling, there are a number of books I'd recommend. If you're just doing 1:300 war gaming pieces, that ought to be just fine. Have fun!

--- Stephen

Unfortunately, there were no standards similar to those in WW2. Even with the same type aircraft, planes from different production runs were finished differently. Once they reached the front, the squadrons could "customize" them to local fads. While this was also done in WW2, it was more tightly controlled than in WW1.

One problem is that there were no real volume aircraft manufacturers prior to the war. So the designs were job-shopped to a lot of subcontractors, and finish was apparently not a contract item.

Harleyford published a book back in the day that has what you want. I've seen them numerous times on ePay for amounts well within your limits. Coax out "Harleyford Book" and you should get one or two hits almost any time.

This looks great, but it seems to be all profiles - so, no idea what was on top of the wings!

It does seem like the lack of standardisation is going to force me to look at a few individuals for inspiration, then... wing it...

Wulf

on 11/6/2007 1:48 PM Wulf Corbett said the following:

At 1/300, you're not going to get a lot of detail, especially if you try that German lozenge pattern. :-)

Wulf Corbett said the following on 06/11/2007 18:48:

Camouflage '14-18 Aircraft by O.G. Thetford might be helpful. It has some colour plates, top, bottom and side, if that's of any help to you?

I have considered that... I have a few Roden WW1 kits with colour plates & decals. A little light daubing, while no doubt overscale, will look the business!

I once attempted to paint a 1/144 Viggen in that Sweedish splinter camo, you know...

Wulf

Could be - published 1943 too!

Thanks to everyone, I now have some good ideas - primarily I have the idea that what I was looking for (abundantly available for WW2 aircraft) just isn't around for WW1 aircraft.

However, I have also discovered just how incredibly cheap some of the Osprey 'Aces' books are on Amazon Used & New! I've always assumed those were good colour & painting reference guides, but too specific - but at these prices, I could buy a half-dozen! Would anyone care to comment on their suitability? Especially specific volumes with lots of pretty colour drawings...

Wulf

Wulf:

A really good introduction to WWI schemes is a book called "Color Profiles Of World War 1 Combat Planes" by Giorgio-Apostolo and Giorgio Begnozzi with a foreword by William Green.

Check Amazon.com for a used copy - or do a search on the Alibris search site. You should be able to locate a copy for less than $25 which is still a good price for an excellent, albeit out-of-print resource.

~Rick

Wulf Corbett said the following on 06/11/2007 20:07:

If you need a couple of scans that should be okay. The booklet is not full of them so it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

I wasn't talking about scanning them, I was thinking of buying a few - they're under a fiver, mostly. Thereafter I'll have them as reference material, and inspiration...

Wulf

Yep.... you gotta dig to find more stuff. Here's another inspirational site.. artwork of Shigeo Koike (illustrator extraordinaire for Hasegawa):

And you survived. Who says modellers aren't made of tough stuff?

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. ;)

Wulf Corbett wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Usually no top view, just lots of profiles.

There is a nook called Flying Colors which is basically war planes from WWI to 70s or 80s. Mine is hardcover, large format. Many of the aircraft have plan views as well as profiles. I think for your purposes this might be a really good start.

Amazon.com is your friend.

Frank