Greim's Dr1 cowling color...?

[John Masters]

Gents...

Both Greg Van's Osprey profile and the Eagle Strike decal sheet have his Dr1 cowling painted red...

...The Windsock Datafile seems to indicate a darker, maybe black, cowling as well as black interplane struts.

I'm in the thick of it, so I need an answer by tomorrow afternoon...If not, 'red' it is.

From the Factory paintshop,
John

[Lyle]

Hi John,
I read (I'm thinking the DF Special) that Greim's Dr.I was ex-Jasta 11, so it came with a red cowl, and he just added the red stripes and silvertail. That might be what clinches the color, because everywhere else I read it says that the cowl was red but doesn't mention the Dr.Is previous employment. Hope this helps!
Lyle

[Gregvan]

Dear John Masters,

The cowling and struts were RED, no doubt about it. As Lyle has pointed out, and as discussed in great detail in the interminable Richthofen's triplane thread, 521/17 had previously seen service in Jasta 11.

PLUS, red was von Greim's color. There is another photo of this aircraft pasted in Greim's flight log. On that photo print (see "Windsock" Volume 19 No. 5, 2003) Greim actually colored over the fuselage stripes, cowling, cabane and interplane struts in RED INK to show the color applied to his aircraft. Oddly enough, the undercarriage struts and wheel covers were in factory finish. Greim also did this red inking with the stripes on the photo of his Fokker D.VII. Pretty convincing evidence. Greg

[John Masters]

Thanks guys. Red struts as well? Super info, and right on time....Should be a striking sight when complete.

From the Factory on the hill,
John