Paint brushed or sprayed ?

[Jurgen Fliegler]

Hi everyone,
I have seen some photos of camouflaged WW1 aircraft that show a smooth blending between the colours. Is it a result of airbrush, or is it because of the poor quality of the photos? So far, I thought that aircraft of that era were painted by hand, using brushes (except, of course the cases of printed patterns). Did they use both technics? If yes, since when? And how did they paint national insignia in the factory? I have also seen a photo of two lady-workers painting british roundels on a wing in a factory, and they used compass and brushes. But I don't know the exact year of the photo, so maybe this changed in a later time. And what did the French - Germans - Austrians - Italians do in this case?

[Sreiko]

Not complete sure but first airbrush was manufactured in 1894... On this forum was once before placed link to the site of Siemens company and there was able to see crystal clear images of their fighter in manufacture. As I could note this is spray work.

[Romani]

Jurgen, wich aircraft do you refer to?

I was hoping somebody more knowledgeable would answer your question. But at least German Albatros fighters were painted with spray. In a question about the green and mauve pattern, the great expert Dan San Abbot said in his reply

DSA
3. The Albatros Werke used spray guns with pressurized covered pots, Defilbis spray gun system.

The majority of WWI airplanes seem to have been painted by hand, I think the use of spray guns used by the Germans must have been dictated by the necessity of economizing in paint due to shortages caused by the blockade, but that's just my theory.

Regarding national markings ... from another thread in the Aerodrome, the German crosses were painted by hand using stencils.

[Jurgen Fliegler]

My question did not refer to a specific aircraft type. It has to do with WW1 model painting (in general), so any information is useful.
In large scale (1/32) the use of brush or airbrush really makes a difference, so I am trying to find out which is the proper way for this job. So far I use brushes for both camouflage and national markings and I wanted to know whether this is a good choice or not. In conclusion, it is - with the exception of German fighters other than Fokkers. (Am I close?)

Thanx for your replies!

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Jurgen Fliegler:
Albatros and OAW used spray guns to paint their aircraft.
All Albatros Class C and D types had sprayed camouflage finishes. Where colors joined, the colors were diffused blending into one another, no hard lines. DFW, LVG, LFG Roland, Hanover, Halberstadt and Pfalz used spray guns. If you see a hard line on color joins signifies hand painting, SPAD XIIIc1 for example. Where colors were merged equals spray painting. Spray painting is faster and with one coat you can get coverage. Time is money!!
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[Jurgen Fliegler]

Thank you sir.
Does this apply on national insignia also from these manufacturers?

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Jurgen Fliegler:
I have seen movies of the Iron Cross being painted on a Alb.D.III upper wing. A template was used to outline the cross in pencil and was then painted by hand. The black cross first and then the white border. Also I have seen a Pfalz D.VIII fuselage balken cross being hand painted, sam as Albatros, the black cross first and then the white border. I can only assume other manufacturers did the same thing. They did NOT have masking tape in WW1.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[Sreiko]

They did NOT have masking tape in WW1

That's what I want to know long time ago