[Dan_San_Abbott]

Ross_Moorhouse:
I think you will find that all Alb.D.,D.II and D.III fuselages were shellacked and varnished and were a yellow color. The color has been described as a warm straw yellow. They were not stained. That is a result of of the orthochromatic film, it photographs yellow, in black and white as a dark grey. Alb.D.II 497/16 was photographed in several views, the side view looks as though it was stained, in a 3/4 rear view it is very apparent it was only finished in a clear varnish. Another that has been misdepicted is Ltn.Ernst Udet's Alb.DIII 1941/16. I had originally drawn it with a rust brown stained fuselage. Not so, Straw Yellow.
Varnish has a yellow cast to it. When painted on a white surface it will dry with a yellow color. The color comes from the flax seed, when crushed and ground it is yellow.
Blue skies,
Dan-San