Possibly Fake Fokker Lozenge Fabric On eBay!

gipsymoth236k · 11 August 2012, 09:34 AM

Here's a current offering on eBay for a piece of "Fokker lozenge fabric" that a potential bidder needs to be very cautious about:

WW1 GERMAN AIRCRAFT LOZENGE FABRIC FOKKER CRASH BATTLEFIELD RELIC | eBay

Read the 'concerned' comments there. Unfortunately, too many of these are out there!

For comparison, here's a piece of authentic Fokker D.VII 'streaked' fabric (not lozenge) with Fokker factory-applied stenciling. It's important to closely examine the stenciling differences between the two fabrics:

BEWARE! (Are you back again Rodney Gerrard?)

Regards,
Gary Sewall

Tim West · 11 August 2012, 10:22 AM

I agree, the stencil is wrong. Even among the other manufacturers, the "O" doesnt appear to have ever gotten that wide. Plus, the "period" should be there.

Lol...it almost looks like one of the Fokker Fonts I have...with the "big O".

And since I'm not much with lozenge, aren't those the colors for the unders? . I thought the sides and top were the darker pattern.

If so...that puts the stencil, in this example on the wrong part of the plane.

gipsymoth236k · 11 August 2012, 10:50 AM

You're correct on all counts Tim.

I've contacted the eBay seller with my concerns and offered to educate him further on his offering...

-Gary Sewall

Jim · 11 August 2012, 12:28 PM

This is a crudely done fake. I am surprised that there are currently 20 bids on it which has me wondering about the seller. At least he added the question about whether it is legitimate, but I notice that he falls back on the old "I do not know about this stuff" line which implies it could be real and does not withdraw the item or come out with a clean "Yes this is a fake". This is especially hard to believe when you look at what he has been selling under his feedback page and it is clear that he is a dealer in militaria with a strength in Great War items including aviation items.

'14-'18aviationcollector · 11 August 2012, 01:12 PM

Hi guys,

I saw this yesterday too, and have to admit that it doesn't look right. I have seen some photos of a restored Fokker D.VII if I recall correctly, which has lower surface fabric on the fuselage sides, but it certainly does not look right. I initially thought that it was in Berlin, but there has been a discussion about Fokker D.VII's on another thread, and there is not a D.VII in Berlin. I might be thinking about the one in the UK, or it may be a different type of aeroplane I have seen it on.

The colours don't look too bad to me, although possibly a little too saturated, especially the yellow, which also looks to me as though it's slightly too orange. The over saturation could be due to a relatively new coat of dope or varnish, the lighting conditions or as most of you seem to think, because it is fake. I would have to say though that it is exceptionally rare for people making fakes to get the colours even remotely correct, so it could be genuine lozenge, but the lettering certainly does not look right.

gipsymoth236k · 11 August 2012, 01:45 PM

Well, it's getting far too easy to potentially fake German lozenge fabric because (fortunately) today we have available Ross Walton's exact reproduction lozenge fabric! It's offered in both five and four color, upper and lower lozenge fabric:

Vintage Aero Fabrics, distributor of aviation fabrics

It would be easy to use this authentic looking fabric to create an 'aged' fake, that is IF the counterfeiter applied the 'correct' stencil fonts and paint type used in the national markings! The offered eBay lozenge fabric has none of these!

OK, this is what authentic, aged, upper five color Fokker D.VII lozenge fabric really looks like today (front and back views shown here):

The offered eBay fabric 'represents' lower five color lozenge fabric that was not used on Fokker D.VII fuselage sides where the "Fok." was stenciled. That type was used on the bottom sides of the fuselage, horizontal tail, and wings.

CAUTION!

Regards,
Gary Sewall

berman · 11 August 2012, 05:12 PM

Another possibility is that this is genuine undersurface printed lozenge that was lettered many years ago to increase its sale price to an unsuspecting tourist or uneducated collector. Plain wing lozenge, at that time, was alot more common than an article with Fokker fuselage lettering.

Jim · 12 August 2012, 08:19 AM

Take a look at the other items this seller is selling he seems to be into painting things and selling them. For example, he currently has an old shovel that he has painted with an amateurish image of a soldier and he has painted the date on it 1916. Then if you look at his 'completed auctions' you will see that he recently 'sold' that exact same shovel with the same rust patterns in an auction in which it received 13 bids and total price of $86.13 Obviously he was bidding on this own auction and from what I can see he was likely working as most or all of the bidders in it to run the price up.

gipsymoth236k · 12 August 2012, 01:49 PM

Well...who originated that old saying "crime doesn't pay" anyway? The fabric just SOLD on eBay for $839.86 with 27 bids!

We're quite likely to see MORE of this most-profitable fakery!

Concerned,
Gary Sewall

berman · 12 August 2012, 03:26 PM

I had written to this Ebay seller, on the hopes that he himself was misled as to the authenticity of this item. He replied that he had seen the dialogue on Aerodrome Forum and he would add a disclaimer. It now appears the man is a total fraud.
You realize of course, that we have provided him with a photo of the proper original stenciling, information on using the correct upper surface lozenge, and a source (Vintage Fabrics) where to obtain exact reproduction lozenge linen fabric right down to the correct sixty three threads per inch. The next fake will sell for even more money.