Lothar von Richthofen's Triplane

[Trackpad]

Hello, Everyone,

I’m building the Roden 1/32nd scale triplane, and I will be finishing it in the colours of Lothar von Richthofen, March 1918. Having read many of the posts on the Aerodrome, I think that I’ve come up with the most plausible scheme for this aircraft. Accordingly, I’d like to post it here and receive any comments pro or con before I start to do the detailed painting. Here’s what I have:

Jasta 11 Red – cowling, wheel centers (front and back), cabane and undercarriage struts, wing ties.

Turquoise – all wing and aileron undersurfaces, axle fairing undersurface, fuselage undersurface from the firewall just to the rear of the cockpit. 25mm/one inch return on the lower fuselage sides back to a vertical line just to the rear of the cockpit.

Jasta 10 Yellow – fuselage from a line just to the rear of the cockpit (including underside), horizontal stabilizer, elevators, rudder.

Streaked Olive – all upper wing and aileron surfaces, fuselage sides and upper surfaces from the firewall just to the rear of the cockpit.

Solid Olive – axle fairing uppersurface, and upper fuselage decking forward of the cockpit.

National Markings – Fuselage and Rudder: standard black cross, outlined in white. Original white fields overpainted with yellow, giving a very slightly lighter yellow colour than found on the rest of the fuselage (which will show slight streaking). Underwing: As for Rudder and Fuselage, with original white field overpainted in turquoise, giving a slightly lighter turquoise colour. Upperwing: As for Rudder and Fuselage, with original white field overpainted in a darker streaked olive than that on the rest of the wing. The white outline of the cross is thinly outlined in solid dark olive (approximately 20 mm on the original aircraft, or about .6 mm on the model). The outside of the white fields may also be outlined in the same manner, but I have yet to confirm this.

Aircraft serial – standard application, but overpainted partially on both sides of the fuselage when yellow was applied to the fuselage.

So here I am, out on the longest, thinnest branch in the universe. Any constructive comments that you may have will be most welcome. Thanks in advance!

Gary

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Trackpad:
Ltn.Lothar Frhr.von Richthofen was the Fuhrer of Jasta 11 from 16 February to 13 March 1918. Not Jasta 10. During this period LvR flew the Fok.DR.I
The upper wing cross-fields were painted olive-brown.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[Trackpad]

Hello, Dan-San,

Thank you for your prompt reply: it is most helpful.

I would appreciate a short clarification of the overpainted upper wing fields. Would the different tonal values in the "crash" photo be caused by different paint stocks of the same shade; fading of the original factory-applied olive and the application "in the field" of newer, fresher paint; or is this a case of two totally different, but related, colours? Or maybe a combination of these factors, perhaps?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Best Regards,

Gary

[bshatzer]

Originally Posted by trackpad

I would appreciate a short clarification of the overpainted upper wing fields. Would the different tonal values in the "crash" photo be caused by different paint stocks of the same shade; fading of the original factory-applied olive and the application "in the field" of newer, fresher paint; or is this a case of two totally different, but related, colours? Or maybe a combination of these factors, perhaps?

Imrie believes that the upper surface of the top wing was overpainted in light yellow while the background for the crosses was overpainted in some other color - presumably standard Fokker olive-brown or something similar.

I'd suppose that is a good a guess as any.

Cheers,

[Dan_San_Abbott]

BShatzer:
In the biography of LvR, "Der kampfflieger Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen" by D.Schweckendiek, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, 1938, facing page
48, top photo of crashed Fok.DR.I, photo cation translated, reads, "Richthofens Absturz on 13 March 1918".
The photo very clearly shows the upper wing is in standard Fokker olive brown streaked camouflage and the cross fields are overpainted a solid olive brown.
Blue skies,
Dan-San