Udet's Fokker's color scheme/markings

Greetings all.

I'm a novice artist attempting to accurately depict Ernst Udet's Fokker DVII. The problem I am encountering is that in the one book and three sources I have viewed on the web, none depict his aircraft the same way. One shows the upper wing lozenged while the other three have it striped, etc. Is there somewhere I can turn to here or on the web, or maybe a book, that is the definitive source for the markings on Udet's DVII ? Your help would sure be appreciated. I figure someone here must have an idea.

Thanks.

Andy

[Laserlloyd]

Please check out this link to another thread in the forum.

Another Udet thread

Also try going to the search function and doing a search for Udet. You will find a lot of information there.

Lloyd...

[BLOWHARD]

Chairborn, you've asked a million dollar question. I can give you a quick answer, Udet flew several, I think 3 are known, the famous plane with candy stripped wing, D.VII (OAW) 2076/18 and D.VII F 4253/18. (from Windsock V4, No.4, article by (Aerodrome's own) Dan San Abbot) There may be more but that might help clear up some of your confusion.
The candy striped plane however, is a touchy subject. There are numerous theories and interpretations of it.
For details of all these planes, the experts should have their say

[ONEALM]

Andy -

The simple solution is to do what most of us do when painting a subject we don't completely know..... put so much light on the surface you can't tell if it's striped or lozenge, park another airplane in front of that part of the airplane or position it so another part of the airframe (a wing or empennage or nose, or whatever) blocks a clear view of the questionable area.

You can use Jim Dietz's approach - put a dog, a cat, ducks, chickens, fruit baskets, cars, Spitfires, etc. in front. I can't use much of that one since I can't paint people or animals a lick -

Or you could use my approach - punt - and paint something you DO know well

I think for the Udet though, you'll form an opinion based on the thread referenced earlier and stick to it. In any case if you use the collective knowledge base here, there will not be many who challenge the results.

Keep painting,
Mike

Thanks for all the input (and good natured sarcasm) everyone. Being new here, I still have to further explore all the conversations here and digest (sift) all the info. There is a wealth of it here!

Mike,

I'll take your advise. My current comp shows the DVII from below and the side as it breaks off the attack so it could be quite an anonymous, generic dogfight scenario. Or then, perhaps, I might place a rather large unfortunate wayward goose in front of Udet's plane?

Thanks for the help everyone.

[BLOWHARD]

One more note, always, when possible, use photographs, not art as reference. Not that you shouldn't look at all the art available, but remember, they are usually more interpretations rather than perfect duplications. I'm always astounded by profiles etc in books on the subject of camouflage and marking, especially on personal markings, where the profile art differs so much from the photos, from details, to size and placement etc. Even ones by reputable artists. One series on WWII aircraft which featuring a BIG name artist has a few side by side comparisons of the profile and the photo. On more than a few occasions, the details very significantly.
One place that almost always has discrepancies are when digital artists reproduce lettering or serial numbers using a font type face. Many times the differences are astounding. But, this is more due to the nature of business and the time allowed the artist rather than bad artist practices.
So, as a rule, look at the photos first, then the art. The closer you get to the subject, the better you will be able to draw your own conclusions about how you think it should look. ...or just start painting a lot of ducks in front of your planes