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German propellor finish
Hi,
I cannot answer your question specifically, but I have seen a couple of original Zeppelin propellors with their original finish. They seem to have been varnished, although it is difficult to tell because the finish is in very poor condition, and is extensively crazed. I have seen other German propellors which look as though they could have been varnished as well, but very thinly. It has even been suggested to me that the finish could be French polish or something similar. I don't know what the finish was, but with fighters it can tend to be a very light finish, by which I mean it is thinly applied, and with Zeppelin propellors, which of course are much larger, the finish on the two I have seen was much more solid and more thickly applied. It is always difficult to tell if the finish is original or not, but in most cases I am reasonably confident that the finish is original. I don't know for sure if the Zeppelin propellors were originally finished in a much heavier finish than those of fighters (the propellors I have seen could have had extra coats of varnish applied at some point for example), but this would make sense, since even the fabric of the aeroplanes (or airships) increased in weight and guage as the size of the aeroplane or aircraft increased. I have some fabric samples from a Vickers Vimy, and they are very heavy, possibly about twice the thickness of fabric which was used on a typical fighter.
I hope this helps. Cheers,
David.
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19 May 2009, 02:57 AM
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